Yea, love my coffee...but it's killing me - I have larynx damage from reflux.
That plant sure "looks" like a plant that grows wild here - especially out of some palm trees.
It isn't a palm but I'm sure it probably does grow here. As in another plant called guizazo de caballo
(horse stickers as in those sharp little balls some grasses bear) chanca piedra contains a lot of silica. The silica grinds the kidney stones down so they don't tear your insides up on exit and makes them easier to expell
Equisetum arvense, the
field horsetail or
common horsetail, is an
herbaceous perennial horsetail native throughout the
arctic and temperate regions of the
northern hemisphere. It has separate sterile non-reproductive and fertile spore-bearing stems growing from a perennial underground
rhizomatous stem system. The fertile stems are produced in early spring and are non-photosynthetic, while the green sterile stems start to grow after the fertile stems have wilted and persist through the summer until the first autumn frosts.
[2][3] It is sometimes confused with mare's tail,
Hippuris vulgaris.
[4] THIS IS NOT HORSETAIL GRASS
Phyllanthus niruri is a widespread
tropical plant commonly found in coastal areas, known by the common names
gale of the wind,
stonebreaker or
seed-under-leaf. It is a relative of the
spurges, belonging to the
Phyllanthus genus of
Family Phyllanthaceae.
from webmd
Chanca piedra is an herb. The whole plant is used to make medicine.
Chanca piedra is used for various disorders of the urinary tract including infections, pain and swelling (
inflammation),
kidney stones, and discharge from the urethra or
vagina. It is also used for digestive tract disorders including gas, loss of appetite, stomachache, intestinal infections,
constipation, and dysentery.
Some people use chanca piedra as a
liver tonic and for
liver problems including
hepatitis B. Other uses include treating diabetes,
gallstones,
colic,
flu,
swine flu, yellowing of the
skin (
jaundice), abdominal tumors, pain around the rectum, fever,
sexually transmitted diseases such as
syphilis and
gonorrhea,
malaria, tumors, caterpillar stings,
cough, fluid retention,
itching,
miscarriage, tremors,
typhoid,
anemia,
asthma,
bronchitis, thirst,
tuberculosis, and
dizziness.
Chanca piedra works better than guizazo de caballo but you can buy the combo