Pteronia onobromoides important in the past

Pteronia onobromoides is an aromatic shrub that yielded important products to the earlier communities of Nama, San and other tribes that frequented the westerly region of what is today the Northern and Western Cape. Lifestyles have changed, hunter-gatherer and early animal husbandry practices have been replaced by more advanced commercial trends. Some of the old ways fell into disuse and the related skills are forgotten.

The essential oils in this plant were in days of yore obtained by mixing powdered leaves with fat. Who taught whom what and borrowed face cream from whom will remain unknown forever. The value of the product (as well as its derivatives) was known in the days of Simon van der Stel during the late seventeenth century. How long before that it was first used we shall also never know.

Skin care has come a long way since one bush served as deodorant, disinfectant, perfume and ointment for all. Who knows, curiosity may revive some experimentation with the old stuff. Secrets may be kept or information may be shared, usually both.

Then the launch of a new brand bearing an unpronounceable French name may continue what the old tribes had started (Hulley, et al, 2010: Ethnobotany, leaf anatomy, essential oil composition and antibacterial activity of Pteronia onobromoides (Asteraceae). SA Journal of Botany 76(1):43-48; Le Roux, et al, 2005; Manning and Goldblatt, 1996; JSTOR; iNaturalist).