Matico/Cordoncillo

Piper hispidium

Like many plants in the pepper family, most all parts of the Matico tree have a aromatic, spicy, peppery taste and smell. The fruits are often used as a condiment and pepper substitute. Throughout the Amazon, many of the Indian tribes use matico leaves as an antiseptic wound healer to stop bleeding, prevent infections and to speed healing. The leaves are either crushed or powdered and sprinkled directly onto the cut, wound, ulcer, and/or boil, or a tea (infusion) is made from the leaves and used as a wash. Sometimes the leaves are heated, pounded and then used as a poultice instead. The Shipibo-Conibo Indians also prepare the leaves in an infusion and use it to treat inflammation, diarrhea, gastritis, vomiting, fever, menstrual colic, internal infections and as a postpartum tonic.

In herbal medicine systems in South America, matico is quite well known and respected for wound healing as well a numerous other conditions. It is widely used as a remedy for all types of digestive disorders such as stomachaches, vomiting, dyspepsia, diarrhea, gastric ulcers, intestinal gas and even stomach cancer. It is also considered an excellent genitourinary tonic and used for kidney stones, urinary tract infections, cystitis, urethritis, leucorrhea, vaginitis, and various venereal diseases such as gonorrhea and trichomonas. In addition, it is also employed for various upper respiratory conditions such as bronchitis, pulmonary hemorrhages, pleurisy, pneumonia, colds and flu, and tonsilitis and sore throats.

The Spanish name, matico, comes from a South American legend. The plant was supposedly discovered by a wounded Spanish soldier named Matico. He learned (probably from the Indians) that applying the leaves to his wounds stopped them from bleeding, and it began to be called "matico" or "soldier’s herb or tree." In was introduced into the profession of medicine in the United States and Europe by a Liverpool physician in 1839 as a styptic and astringent for wounds. Early medical texts in the U.S. include matico as it appeared in the United States Pharmacopoeia in the early nineteenth century. It was also recommended for leucorrhea, gonorrhea, hemorrhoids, blenorrhagia, dyspepsia, internal hemorrhages, (pulmonary, gastric ulcers, and postpartum bleeding) as well as diarrhea, dysentery, and cholera.

This information is gathered directly from:
https://rain-tree.com/matico.htm