Fabiana imbricata or pichi is a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae, native to dry upland slopes in Chile and Argentina. Growing to 2.5 m tall and wide, it is a frost-hardy, heath-like evergreen mound-forming shrub.
Fabiana imbricata is the type species for the genus Fabiana that has needle-like leaves and small white, tubular flowers in early summer.. F. imbricata foliage, specifically has been traditionally employed as a diuretic and digestive and has been proven to have a dose-dependent gastroprotective effect, in studies evaluating the main sesquiterpene of the foliage. Interest in F. imbricata has extended into the development of invitro culturing of the plant’s tissue for the harvesting of secondary metabolites for further research. Fabiana imbricata is a long-lived shrub distributed via seeds, and broadly distributed within South America.
