''Gouania lupuloides'', known as chewstick or whiteroot, is a

neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 species. The Rhamnaceae h ...

. It is occasionally used as a teeth-cleaning implement.

Description

''Gouania lupuloides'' ranges from Mexico in the north to the top of South America in the south, and to the West Indies in the west. ''Gouania lupuloides'' is plentiful around the edges of clearings but appears only occasionally in the forest canopy. ''G.'' ''lupuloides'' flowers from November to March, usually in the early dry season; the plant does not often flower in March and rarely flowers in the rainy season. ''G.'' ''lupuloides'' can fruit as early as January, and as late as May with a peak in March and April.

Uses

In Jamaican patois a vine is called a wis (wythie). To clean one's teeth with this plant one cuts off a portion of the vine, peels off the bark and chews the tip. The tip becomes fibrous and frothy. Chewstick tastes slightly bitter but not unpleasant. The plant is used to make a commercial toothpaste. Chewstick may also be used as an ingredient in Jamaican

ginger beer Traditional ginger beer is a sweetened and carbonated, usually non-alcoholic beverage. Historically it was produced by the natural fermentation of prepared ginger spice, yeast and sugar. Current ginger beers are often manufactured rather than ...

References

* MEDlCINAL PLANTS OF JAMAICA. PARTS 1 & 11. By G. F. Asprey, M.Sc., Ph.D. (B'ham.), Professor of Botany, U.C.W.l. and Phyllis Thornton, B.Sc. (Liverpool), Botanist Vomiting Sickness Survey. Attached to Botany Department, U.C.W.l. lupuloides Flora of the Caribbean Flora of Central America Flora of Colombia Flora of Ecuador Flora of Mexico Flora of Peru Flora of Venezuela Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{dentistry-stub