Jagua

The jagua tree is, in fact, one of the most well-disbursed native trees of the rainforests.

Some Indians used a preparation concocted from the fruit of the jagua tree (Genipa americana), a sixty-foot-high deciduous tree that grows in much of tropical America and produces an elliptical yellow-brown fruit about the size of an orange.

Genipa americana L., or jagua, is a tree that grows (mostly) wild in Latin America.

Nothing is wasted— leaves are used to make baskets, the juice of the jagua fruit is applied as a mosquito repellent, and the river provides fresh water for bathing.

This concoction, which Estellita Lins claims capable of dissolving a candiru lodged in the urethra, is a hot tea made from jagua juice. Jagua is the fruit of the tropical tree Genipa americana.

Within its indigenous habitat, Jagua (Genipa americana) was and is used to summon strength, give protection in war, induce transformation, attract mates, bring on menstruation and connect to spirits, amongst other things! It is a very multi- faceted and dynamic fruit, and it is an important part of rituals throughout the Amazon basin and Caribbean, including present day Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad, Ecuador, Panama, Brazil and Columbia.

Coordinate term: henna

jagua + pytã (“red”) → jaguapytã (“cougar”)