Turnera diffusa

Turnera diffusa Willd.

Common Names: Diamiana

Family: Passifloraceae

Habit: Turnera diffusa grows as a woody herbaceous shrub to 1 meter in height.  The leaves are arranged alternately, to 3 cm in length, oblanceolate with a pair of glands at the leaf base.  The leaf has a crenate margin and an acute leaf apex.  The abaxial surface of the leaves is pubescent.  The foliage is pungent.

The complete, perfect, actinomorphic flowers are arranged solitarily in leaf axils. The flowers are subtended by 3 bracts.  The calyx has 5 fused green sepals. The corolla has 5 unfused yellow petals.  There are 5 stamens, each fused to the base of a petal. The ovary is superior with a single locule and many seeds.  The fruit is a capsule at maturity.

Habitat: Turnera diffusa grows in Human Altered environments (roadsides, houses, abandoned fields), dune areas as well as long the edges of Dry Broadleaf Evergreen Formation – Woodlands/Shrublands.

Distribution: Turnera diffusa occurs throughout the Lucayan archipelago, the southern United States, Mexico, Central and South America.

Medicinal/Cultural/Economic usage: Turnera diffusa is not known to be used medicinally in the Lucayan Archipelago.

The species is used elsewhere in the herbal industry as an aphrodisiac, stimulant, and treating gastrointestinal issues.  It is sold over the counter in pills, powders and teas.