Headache Bush

Headache Bush (Cayman Islands)
Black Willow (Jamaica & the Bahamas); Jamaica Caper (USA)
Capparis cynophallophora  
(syn. Quadrella cynophallophora)    Caper Family: CAPPARACEAE  
Florida, West Indies and continental tropical America, in rocky thickets and woodlands.

Headache Bush is an attractive native shrub or small tree with a rounded, compact crown, suitable for use in landscaping.

The ALTERNATE leathery leaves are shiny, dark green above, and greyish-green with tiny, rusty scales on the underside. The juvenile leaves are very long and narrow.

The pretty flowers are white when they open at sunset, with a pleasant fragrance that attracts moths. 

When the sun comes up the following morning, they wilt, gradually turning pink and then purplish.

The pod-like fruits (capsules) split open sideways to reveal a bright red interior with black seeds.

Medicinal uses: 

Leaves were chopped, crushed and put in a bottle and used as smelling salts for a headache. Crushed leaves applied externally for toothache.

(Wilfred Kings, 1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands, G.C.142)

The stem and leaves were boiled to make a tea to relieve headaches. The leaves were also used dry.

(Healing Plants of the Cayman Islands, compiled by Lorna McCubbin, March 15, 1995).

Wildlife:

Headache Bush is sometimes the larval food plant of the Great Southern White butterfly – Ascia monuste, Family: PIERIDAE, although the eggs and caterpillars are much more commonly found on the related Bloody Head-Raw Bones - Capparis fluexuosa, (Bottle-cod Root – Jamaica;  Limber Caper - USA).

CaymANNature Flora photos 

Medicinal Plants and Cultural Uses    in Cayman- photos

FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS by George R. Proctor p.333, Fig.118, Pl.23

Jamaica Caper tree (called Headache Bush in Cayman)