Romero
Salvia rosmarinus · Rosemary
- Names in the 1901 book
- Romero, Sp.; Rosemary, Eng.
- Names in the 1985 book
- English: Rosemary; Tagalog: Romero, Dumero
- Used for
- Cough and asthmaStomach and digestionSkinJoint pain, sprains and swellingHair and scalpEyes and ears
- Colours
- flowerblue, white
- Native range
- Mediterranean
- In the Philippines, per the book
- It is carefully cultivated throughout the Philippines.
- Family
- Lamiaceae, filed in the book under Labiatæ
- Printed in 1901 as
- Rosmarinus officinalis, L.
- Printed in 1985 as
- Ros marinus officinalis L.
- Sources
- Page 197 on Project Gutenberg · Healing Wonders of Herbs (1985), page 124 · Wikipedia
The plant today
Salvia rosmarinus, synonym Rosmarinus officinalis, commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and purple or sometimes white, pink, or blue flowers. It is a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae. The species is native to the Mediterranean region. It has numerous cultivars, and its leaves are commonly used as a flavoring.
Excerpt from “Rosemary” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sa Tagalog
Ang Salvia rosmarinus ( /ˈsælviə ˌrɒsməˈraɪnəs/), mas karaniwang kilala bilang dumero o romero, ay isang makahoy na pangmatagalang damong-gamot na may amoy, parating berde, may parang karayom na dahon, at may bulaklak na kulay puti, rosas, murado, o bughaw na likas sa rehiyon ng Mediteraneo. Dinala ito sa Pilipinas ng mga Kastila.
Sipi mula sa “Dumero” sa Tagalog Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 7 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 2 provinces: Metropolitan Manila (1), Negros Oriental (1).
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
This is one of the plants most valued by the Filipinos. Its infusion is used as an eye-wash for slight catarrhal conjunctivitis, applied 3 or 4 times a day. It is one of the aromatic plants used so commonly to bathe women in the puerperal state, and in vapor baths for rheumatism, paralysis and incipient catarrhs. The entire plant is a stimulant and carminative but little used internally; in atonic dyspepsia it has given good results taken in the same form as the infusion of manzanilla.
It contains a large per cent. of an essential oil which gives the plant its agreeable odor. This oil enters into the composition of “Cologne Water”; it is said to arrest falling of the hair and is a diffusible stimulant which may be given internally in doses of 3–5 drops. It is colorless and liquid when fresh, but in time becomes dark and viscid. It combines freely with alcohol and its density is 0.885.
Botanical description
A plant from 2 to 3° high. Leaves sessile, linear, obtuse, margins revolute, white-hoary beneath. Calyx tubular, 2-lipped. Corolla rose-violet color, gaping; the upper lip concave, 2-lobed; the lower lip longer, 3-lobed. Stamens, 2 fertile and 2 sterile. Style, same length as the stamens. Stigma simple. Fruit, 4 seeds in the depths of the calyx.
What the 1985 book uses it for
A record of home remedies from 1985, with the book's amounts and doses reworded. It is not medical advice.
- Pimples or acneLeaf juice put on the face overnight.Crush 5 leaves for the juice. Apply to the washed face.Page 34
Summarised from Herminia de Guzman-Ladion, Healing Wonders of Herbs (Manila: Philippine Publishing House, 1985), where this plant is shown as “Romero” on page 124. The book is in copyright, so its wording and photographs are not reproduced. Amounts are the book's, restated.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Rosmarinus officinalis and Skin: Antioxidant Activity and Possible Therapeutical Role in Cutaneous Diseases
- Potential Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Rosmarinus officinalis in Preclinical In Vivo Models of Inflammation
- Rosmarinus officinalis L. hexane extract: phytochemical analysis, nanoencapsulation, and in silico, in vitro, and in vivo anti-photoaging potential evaluation