Sarsaparilla Tea

    Sarsaparilla tea is made from the dried root of a vine (Smilax officinalis) native to tropical America. It was introduced into Europe in the sixteenth century by returning Spaniards and began to be widely used as a cure for venereal and skin diseases. Recent chemical analyses have shown that sarsaparilla contains a number of valuable hormones that lend credence to the old tales of its power over waning virility, loss of hair, psoriasis, and syphilis.

    In Asia there is a root (Smilax china) with similar attributes, known to us as China root. American sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) is another of the substitutes for Smilax sarsaparilla.