A tropical South American plant used in traditional medicine, believed to have healing properties for various ailments.
From Tupi, an indigenous language of Brazil; the term entered European scientific literature through Portuguese colonial botanists documenting Amazonian plants in the 16th-17th centuries.
European explorers were absolutely fascinated by Amazonian plants like caapeba, and indigenous peoples' knowledge of them became the foundation of modern pharmacology—some medicines you take today have roots in plants named with Tupi words just like this one.
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