Pichi

Pichi is a genuine and important Patagonian medicinal plant. In Chilean and Argentine folk medicine an infusion or decoction of the leafy stems and bark is used as a diuretic and digestive tonic and to treat disorders of the kidneys and urinary tract, including cystitis and urinary stones, as well as liver complaints such as jaundice and gallstones (Schmeda-Hirschmann & Rojas de Arias, and review by Reyes et al., 2018). Bioactivity studies support the traditional diuretic use and indicate gastroprotective and hepatic-stimulant effects, with low toxicity of the crude extracts. The species was also adopted into nineteenth-century Eclectic/Western practice, where the leaves and branches were classed as a diuretic, tonic and hepatic stimulant for cystitis, hepatic and vesical calculi, dyspepsia and vesical irritation (King's American Dispensatory).