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Herb library · Herb · Cyclopia species (e.g. C. intermedia, C. genistoides, C. subternata)

Honeybush

A herbal tea made from native South African fynbos shrubs, drunk like its better-known neighbor rooibos. There are no human studies of the tea itself; one trial of a concentrated extract looked at skin wrinkles.

Traditional use

A popular tisane in its native South Africa, where it is also used traditionally for medicinal purposes, with a growing worldwide market. Honeybush tea is made from several Cyclopia species, and both fermented and unfermented forms are studied. In 1857 the Cape physician L. Pappe recorded Cyclopia genistoides growing on the Cape Flats, drunk as a decoction or infusion for chronic coughs and known locally as Honigthee.

What studies show

  • Insufficient

    Drinking the tea: a 2007 review found no human studies of honeybush at all; its antioxidant and other effects come from laboratory and animal work.

  • Insufficient

    Skin aging: one 12-week placebo-controlled trial in 120 Korean adults found a fermented honeybush extract (400–800 mg a day in capsules) improved wrinkles, skin moisture and elasticity. A single trial of a concentrated extract says little about the tea.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • NoteNo adverse effects of drinking honeybush as a tea have been reported, and the skin trial reported none.
  • ConditionIn laboratory and animal studies, Cyclopia extracts act on estrogen receptors. Whether drinking the tea has any such effect in people is unknown; people with hormone-sensitive conditions may want to ask a clinician.
  • NoteResearchers studying wild honeybush populations warn that cultivating plants near wild ones, or moving seed between mountain ranges, may threaten the genetic diversity of the wild species.
  • Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using honeybush extracts or capsules, or drinking a lot of the tea, 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.

“In the form of decoction or infusion, it is often made use of for the purpose of promoting expectoration in chronic catarrh, and even in consumption. It has a sweet, astringent taste, and is generally considered as a restorative. Its vernacular name is Honigthee.”
L. Pappe, Floræ Capensis Medicæ Prodromus (1857), p. 9. See the page of Floræ Capensis Medicæ Prodromus, p. 9 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from Floræ Capensis Medicæ Prodromus, p. 9

Sources

  1. A review of the bioactivity of South African herbal teas: rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) and honeybush (Cyclopia intermedia) (Phytother Res, 2007) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. Protective effects of fermented honeybush (Cyclopia intermedia) extract (HU-018) against skin aging: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study (J Cosmet Laser Ther, 2018) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  3. Cyclopia extracts act as ERα antagonists and ERβ agonists, in vitro and in vivo (PLoS One, 2013) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  4. Applied phylogeography of Cyclopia intermedia (Fabaceae) highlights the need for 'duty of care' when cultivating honeybush (PeerJ, 2020) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.