Cota, Navajo Tea.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: Re: Navajo tea
From: ntlor.primenet.com (Sharon Rust)
Date: Sat, 03 Jun 1995 10:55:44 -0700

> Does anyone know anything about Navajo tea, also called coto, scientific name Thelesperma gracile. How is it prepared? What is it used for?

A Navajo friend of mine gave me a couple small bundles of this tea, she said just use it as a drinking tea. The herb was dried in a oval bundle about 4 inches long and 1.5-2 inches across 2 stalks deep. Michael Moore has some info on it in "Los Remedios" he says along with a drinking tea, it is useful for kidneys in winter, and combined with other plants as a stomach settler and blood purifier.

From: nmgdesign.aol.com (NMGDESIGN)

The actual name of the herb is called Cota. A pelethra of the wild growing plant can be found in northern New Mexico along roadsides and in mountain areas. Its main use is as a leisure tea drunk

by native Indians in the NM area. Before coffee was imported the tea was the beverage of choice. There are some ceremonial uses for this herb as well. I have recently published a booklet that focuses on the traditional uses and beliefs on New Mexican herbs, one of which is Cota. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of this book E-mail me for more info.

From: Stephanie Goble <Stephaniex_goble.ccm.ch.intel.com>

> Does anyone know anything about Navajo tea, also called coto, scientific

It is brewed and swallowed ... no particular medicinal usage, just a hot drink on a cold morning on the rez.