Common Name: Pichi

General Information

Fabiana imbricata is an evergreen shrub that looks rather like a heath. Erect when young, it ultimately spreads to become up to 250cm tall and wide. The plant is lower or even ground-hugging at high elevations or in dry or exposed situations[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and has also been traded. It was included in the Materia Medica of India in the early 20th century. It is grown as an ornamental, valued especially for its floral display.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

S. America - Chile, western and southern Argentina.

Habitat

Sand banks of estuaries and rivers[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Shrub
Height	2.50 m
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Fabiana imbricata is not a very cold-hardy plant, tolerating occasional short-lived temperatures down to around -8°c. It grows best in areas that receive little or no frost[].
Succeeds in a sunny position in a light well-drained soil[].
The cultivar 'Violacea' is generally faster growing and is somewhat hardier than the type, tolerating temperatures down to about -5°c[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The dried leaves and twigs are cholagogue, a valuable terebinthic diuretic, sedative and tonic[, ]. It is largely used in the treatment of acute urinary bladder catarrh, giving very favourable results where urinary irritation is caused by gravel[]. It ia also used in the treatment of rheumatism, lumbago and sciatica, in the course of which urates are precipitated from the urine in large quantities.
The plant produces an oleo-resin from minute, gland-like protuberances. The resin is quite dry and brittle, and forms a
greyish powder. It is this resin that is the main active principle and it is especially beneficial in the treatment of urinary calculi, where it disintegrates the calculi by dissolving the mucin that keeps the particles together and thus facilitating their expulsion in the shape of a harmless pulp. The resin is especially efficacious in the treatment of haematuria, gonorrhoea, cystitis, vesical catarrh (both acute and chronic). In uric acid diathesis, it should be given with a potassium salt to dissolve the urates[].
The plant is used in Argentina to treat conditions related to the cardiovascular system, gastro-intestinal system, genito-urinary system and respiratory system. It is also considered to be analgesic and antiinflammatory[].
The plant is contra-indicated in cases where there is organic disease of the kidneys or in albuminaria[, ].

The plant is said to possess wondrous anthelmintic properties for curing sheep and goats of pirguin, an ailment that wipes out whole flocks[].

The plant is used in homoeopathy. It is a terebrinthine diuretic. It has also tonic and chologogue properties, and is used in the treatment of nasal catarrh, jaundice, dyspepsia and to increase the secretion of bile. It is useful in the uric acid diathesis, cystitis, gonorrhoea, prostatitis, dysuria, vesical catarrh with suppurative prostatic conditions; post-gonorrhoeal urinary conditions; cholethiasis and liver affections. Vesical tenesmus and burning after urination. Excoriating urine and calculi[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant is much-branched and forms a very dense shrub, it is grown as a hedge in Argentina[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - sow in a well-drained sandy soil in the greenhouse[]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Greenwood cuttings, rooted with gentle bottom heat, summer in a cold frame[].