Just Opened the Suitcase and Found a Sprig of Buchu

The Buchu growing in the Western Cape

Granny Jay was never one to stay indoors for long.

Whenever the mountain called, she answered. With a basket on her arm and sturdy shoes on her feet, she would wander along winding paths searching for new plants, unusual leaves, and fragrant herbs. Every walk was a lesson waiting to be discovered.

Of course, not every plant was easy to identify.

Whenever she found something unfamiliar, she would turn to Oom Hendricks—the village botanist, as he proudly liked to call himself. Whether he had earned the title from a university or simply from a lifetime spent among the fynbos, nobody was quite sure. What everyone did know was that if Oom Hendricks didn't know a plant, it probably wasn't worth knowing.

One bright morning, Granny Jay returned from the mountain carrying a handful of small, fragrant leaves.

"Oom Hendricks," she asked, placing the sprig before him, "what have I found today?"

The old botanist smiled.

"Buchu," he replied.

Buchu is one of the Cape's most treasured indigenous plants, growing naturally among the mountains and valleys of the Western Cape.

For generations, the Khoisan people valued the aromatic leaves for their distinctive scent and traditional wellness uses. The name itself comes from the Khoisan language, meaning something close to "pleasant fragrance" or "aromatic herb."

Granny Jay rubbed the leaves between her fingers and breathed in the fresh, blackcurrant-like aroma.

"It smells like the mountain after rain," she said.

Oom Hendricks nodded in agreement.

"That," he said, "is the smell of the Cape."

From that day forward, Buchu became one of Granny Jay's favourite discoveries.

Not because it was rare or exotic, but because it carried the story of the land itself—its mountains, its people, and generations of plant wisdom passed from hand to hand.

Today, whenever we use Buchu in our products, we remember those mountain walks, the conversations with Oom Hendricks, and Granny Jay's endless curiosity about the natural world around her.

Sometimes the smallest leaf carries the biggest story.