Home > Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine > Ignatia

Description

Ignatia is a homeopathic remedy that is derived from the bean of a small tree that is native to the Philippine Islands and China. The tree belongs to the Loganiaceae family, and has long, twining, smooth branches. On the branches grows a fruit that is the size and shape of a pear. Inside the fruit are almond-shaped seeds, or beans, that have a fine, downy covering and are blackish gray or clear brown in color.

The Latin name is Ignatius amara, amara being the Latin work for bitter. The bean was named after St. Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish Jesuit who was responsible for bringing the beans to Europe from the Philippines in the seventeenth century. As a result, the beans are often called St. Ignatius beans. The missionaries were introduced to the beans by the locals, who wore the beans as amulets to prevent disease. The bean was then used as a treatment for gout, epilepsy, cholera, and