He loves me, he loves me not?
How do I known if he really loves me?
Some Jamaicans will tell you that the way to find out if your love is true is to tear off a piece of the love bush, toss the plant at a tree and call out the name of your hoped-for lover. If it sticks and grows, true love will flourish.

So what is this wonder bush? The scientific name for the love bush is Cuscuta spp, more commonly known as dodder. It is a parasitic plant. It cannot make it’s own food, but relies entirely on other plants. Dodders have slender twining or thread like stems that vary in colour from pale green to yellow to bright orange. They climb on nearby plants and then send out small suckers, which eventually grow into the host plant. As soon as the dodder is firmly attached, its own root withers away, and all the nutrients required are drawn from the host.

Doesn’t sound very romantic does it? In fact dodders can be a serious pest. It reduces the growth of the host plant and sometimes eventually kills it. Its persistence and the fact that it is very difficult to eradicate once it becomes established in an area makes it a farmers nightmare. Some other names given to the dodder are strangleweed, hellweed, angels’s hair, devil’s gut, devil’s hair, beggar weed, pull down, hellbind and shoelaces. I think the names says it all.

But wait, there is more. Some Jamaican’s will tell you that the love bush can be used to cure baby gripes and colds as well as for headaches and prickly heat. Personally I cannot endorse any of the medical claims so I will stick with my doctor. But maybe some of you know about those remedies from your grand parents. I remember my Grand mother giving me some herb tea or other each time I went to her with an ailment. Pity I didn’t pay attention then.

So, does the love bush work or not? Who knows? Any way before you decide to throw a piece on someone’s hedging, have a heart, think of the problem they will have to get rid of it after.

Nuff love.