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Herb library · Herb · Lippia javanica

Fever tea (lemon bush)

A strongly lemon-scented shrub of southern and eastern Africa whose leaves are brewed as a tea for colds, coughs and fevers. It has not been studied in people.

Traditional use

Andrew Smith recorded in 1895 that isiXhosa-speaking people around King William's Town (in today's Eastern Cape) drank a decoction of the leaves, called in-zinziniba, mixed with wormwood for colds and chest fevers, and used it in fever, influenza and measles. It is still one of the plants traditional healers in Limpopo Province turn to most for a runny, blocked nose, according to a 2018 survey of 105 healers.

What studies show

No studies in people of this herb on its own yet. What is known of it comes from the traditions that use it.

  • Insufficient

    Colds, coughs and fevers: no study of fever tea in people was found. Its essential oil and extracts have been studied only in the laboratory.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • NoteA 2017 study of leaves gathered at five sites in Zimbabwe found no lead in the tea and metal levels within dietary limits, but levels in the leaves varied with where they grew. Concentrated extracts and the essential oil have not been tested for safety in people.
  • PregnancyNo safety information for pregnancy or breastfeeding was found; avoid medicinal amounts then.
  • Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.

From the old books

What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.

“A decoction of the leaves, mixed with a decoction of wormwood, is used in colds—perhaps rather in a sort of low feverish inflammation in the lungs, common among the natives. In-zinziniba is also made use of to prevent inflammation in fever, influenza, and measles.”
Andrew Smith, A Contribution to South African Materia Medica (third edition) (1895), p. 101. See the page of A Contribution to South African Materia Medica (third edition), p. 101 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from A Contribution to South African Materia Medica (third edition), p. 101

Sources

  1. Investigation of some metals in leaves and leaf extracts of Lippia javanica: its daily intake (J Environ Public Health, 2017) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. Ethnobotanical study of curative plants used by traditional healers to treat rhinitis in the Limpopo Province, South Africa (Afr Health Sci, 2018) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  3. Ethnobotanical study of curative plants used by traditional healers to treat rhinitis in the Limpopo Province, South Africa (Afr Health Sci, 2018) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.