Peumus boldus Mol.

Peumus boldus is a tree that grows in relatively humid habitats, from the semiarid to the temperate forest regions in Chile. Its leaves are exported in large amounts and are widely used to prepare a digestive tea. Historically they were employed for headaches, rheumatism, and severe but not clearly identified conditions characterized by fever, edema, catarrh, and also sexually transmitted diseases. The most characteristic constituents are a mainly terpenoidal essential oil and a number of isoquinoline and aporphine alkaloids. Remarkably, it is generally not the major alkaloidal component of the leaves, boldine that continues to be the subject of pharmacological investigations: some of these seem to support the traditional uses of boldo leaves.