Nausea, vomiting, asthma and whooping cough. Ipecac is prepared from the dried root of a small South American shrub of the same name, also called ipecacuanha or the cephaelis bush. It acts mainly on the digestive tract and also on the respiratory airways. Its outstanding feature is nausea - whatever the ailment. If the illness has nausea as a predominant symptom, this remedy may help.