Is that a twig of parsley or lemon grass in your teacup? If you live in Bermuda, where locals have been looking to the land to fill their brewing pots for hundreds of years now, it very well could be.

When it comes to herbal and root teas, the beverages of choice among an increasing number of drinkers both here and abroad, no one can accuse Bermudians of being latecomers to the tea party.

"They (herbs and roots) have been used for centuries here,'' says Ms Patricia Wilson, the owner of More Than Herbs, a Hamilton health emporium. "In terms of teas, (Bermudians) tend to use `Father John,' a green plant with a red streak running through the leaf, and lemon grass, which can be made into both an ade or a tea.'' In the case of the former, Ms Wilson explains, the "body-building'' properties in the Father John plant have made the attending tea an enduring local folk tonic, while lemon grass, which has been used as both a blood purifier and a cold remedy, has proven just as popular.

"Both plants,'' Ms Wilson says from experience, "can be very effective. Most people will use them in teas when they're ill, although some people will take them on a regular basis.'' In addition to their pleasant flavours, it is, of course, their medicinal properties and their lack of harmful toxins that have made herbal teas of all stripes so popular among bohemian types, the health-conscious and the caffeine-overloaded.

In Bermuda, moreover, some type of herbal tea, from the very well-known chamomile, mint or fruit-flavoured blends to the less common concoctions like ginseng, fennel or garlic-based teas, can be found on the menu in many cafes and restaurants -- not to mention the growing number of health food stores and wellness shops that are sprouting around the Island.

"Most people,'' Ms Wilson says of the herb teas' popularity, "like the idea that they're not going to have any side effects with these things -- all they do is feed, regulate and cleanse the body naturally.'' Consequently, she says, "I'm finding that many people are turning away from conventional medicines once they find they have a natural alternative. They simply prefer to take the natural route.'' And indeed there seems to be little in the way of minor diseases or ailments that the right herbal drink -- be it hot or cold -- can't remedy. "A good parsley tea,'' says Ms Wilson by way of example, "can serve as a diuretic, suppress bad breath and stimulate the appetite,'' while a garlic-based tea, which is high in both phosphorus and zinc, will normalise blood pressure and help with viral and yeast infections.

While not particularly tasty, a tea made with cayenne pepper, moreover, can assist with stomach and kidney problems, relieve some forms of arthritis and even control depression, while a more pleasant-tasting ginger tea, high in potassium, magnesium and silicon, can improve the circulation, control instances of gas and motion sickness and help with colic and diarrhoea.

With the exception of cayenne pepper, which comes from more tropical settings, many of these elements, including parsley, ginger, garlic and sage, are indigenous to Bermuda, making them easy to find and brew and therefore very popular.

But, Ms Wilson is quick to point out, there are also many herbs and plants that grow on the Island but go unused by Bermudians.

Among them, she says, are the very common fennel, which can serve as an appetite depressant and combat cases of pinworms, and the widespread hibiscus flower, a purifier of the blood.

"Aside from (its use as a source for) perfume, I don't think Bermudians know what hibiscus can do for them,'' says Ms Wilson, who is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in naturopathy. "Not like the Hawaiians anyway, who use hibiscus to cool the blood, or the West Indians, who drink sorrel (an acid-leaved herb that is also used in salads) at Christmas. Hibiscus is very similar to sorrel.'' Of the underused fennel, Ms Wilson says: "As children, we used to eat fennel if we had upset stomachs. And it makes a good deodoriser. Tobacco chewers used to use it to cut the odour of the tobacco.'' Perhaps, then, that garden-variety fennel plant will now find its way into more Bermudian teapots, with the lushly pink hibiscus, a fixture in local flower vases, moving from the living room to the kitchen.

"It (the brewing of such plants) is certainly catching on here,'' says Ms Wilson.

And no wonder. As the herbalism expert says, "they don't build up in the system like synthetic drugs. And they don't result in any harmful reactions.''