Shea or karite is a tree that produces the shea nut and shea butter.

• botanical information
• origin
• magick correspondences and uses

botanical information:

    Botanical name: Vitellaria paradoxa, formerly known as Butryospermum paradoxa

    Common name: shea

    Use the botanical name when ordering seeds (bulbs, etc.) or when looking up information in the library. Common names vary by nation, culture, and region, and sometimes the same common name is applied to different plants.

    Height: 15 m.
    Fruiting Time: Produces fruit (resembling plums) at about 20 years old and reaches full fruit production at about 45 years. Produces nuts 200 years after reaching maturity.

origin:

    Origin: Africa. Grows in the dry Savannah belt of Senegal in West Africa to Sudan and the foothills of the Ethiopian highlands in East Africa.

magickal correspondences and uses:

    Magickal substitutions: Rosemary usually may be safely substituted for any herb in magick spells and rituals. Roses may safely be substituted for any flower.

base or carrier oil:

    Base Oil: Shea butter can be used as a base (or carrier) oil for aromatherapy.
    Aroma: Nutty, fatty.
    Texture: Solid, permeable at room temperature; leaves an oily or waxy feeling on skin.
    Color: off-white (cream).
    Notes: Suitable for lotions and creams.

Some herbs may be poisonious under some conditions. Exercise appropriate care.

    Wild gathering: Avoid wild gathering. Some plants are endangered species. Some plants can be toxic just by touch. Even experts can make deadly misidentifications of wild plants. Please grow your own herbs in your own goddess garden.

See also: herbs and trees.

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