Bush Medicine

Bush medicine is the Bahamian tradition of plant remedies, drawing on West African knowledge brought by enslaved people, on what the Lucayans knew, and on what the local flora offered. Certain plants recur everywhere: cerasee, a bitter vine boiled as a tea and taken as a general tonic; fever grass, which is lemongrass; strong back, taken for what the name suggests; five finger; and love vine. Bundles of dried bush are sold in markets and at roadside stalls, and knowledge is passed within families rather than formally. Several nature reserves run guided walks that identify the plants and explain their traditional uses.

What you actually see

• Cerasee - the bitter vine boiled as the most common tonic tea.
• Market bush stalls - bundles of dried plants sold by name.
• Guided bush walks - plant identification at some reserves and gardens.
• Family transmission - the knowledge passed within households, not schools.

When to go

Year-round. Market stalls in Nassau and on the family islands sell dried bundles. Some national park and garden guides will identify plants and explain uses on a walk, which is the most accessible way in.

Honest expectations

This is a folk tradition, not medicine in the clinical sense, and nothing here is a substitute for a doctor; some preparations interact badly with prescribed drugs and a few plants used traditionally are genuinely toxic in the wrong dose. Treat it as culture rather than treatment, and do not self-medicate on the strength of a market stall recommendation.

Nearby

Nassau's markets sell it; the family islands are where the knowledge is strongest.