MUTHI AND MYTHS FROM AFRICA

128pp., colour illus., paperback, Reprint, Briza, Johannesburg, (2008) 2025

ISBN: 9781928248316

A blend of myth, science and culture, these fifty-two tales explore the use of indigenous plants for physical and psychological healing across Africa. Many of these stories have been passed down orally and are written down here for the first time.

The plants covered include Leopard Orchid, Baobab, Bitter Aloe, Marula, Wild Dagga, Sugarbush, Ghaap, Pennywort, Kalahari Fever Bush, African Potato, Devil's Claw, Rooibos, Cancer Bush, Hibiscus, Honeybush, Wild Ginger and Wild Olive.

Heather-Inez Dugmore's interest in African healing and mythology began after a transformative encounter with a sangoma on South Africa's Wild Coast. The author of Big Cats of Mala Mala, she lives between Johannesburg and the Karoo.

Ben-Erik van Wyk is Professor of Botany at the University of Johannesburg and the author of more than 20 books, including People's Plants, a guide to useful plants of southern Africa (with Nigel Gericke) and Medicinal Plants of South Africa (with Nigel Gericke and Bosch van Oudtshoorn).