Meaning
A hardy succulent bush (Bryophyllum pinnatum) famous for sprouting tiny new plantlets from the notches along the edges of its fleshy leaves — the tenacity that earns it the name 'leaf of life'. Its juice, squeezed from a warmed or crushed leaf, is a favourite folk remedy for coughs, colds, congestion, and earache, dripped or drunk to ease the chest and clear the head. Growing easily in any yard, it is among the best-loved and most trusted plants of Jamaican bush medicine, always to hand when sickness strikes.
Examples
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Squeeze di leaf of life juice fi di cough.
Squeeze the leaf-of-life juice for the cough.
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Leaf of life grow new plant from di leaf edge.
Leaf of life grows new plants from the leaf's edge.
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Granny swear by leaf of life fi cold.
Granny swears by leaf of life for colds.
Origin
Named for its remarkable way of growing whole new plants from its leaf margins — 'life' from a single leaf; a staple bush-medicine plant.
How it’s used
A classic Jamaican folk remedy for respiratory ailments. Part of the bush-medicine tradition.