Virola tree

Most psychoactive drugs come from plants, and there are hundreds of plants with psychoactive properties. People have put most of them to use in one part of the world or another at one time or another. Often drug plants taste bad, are weak, or have unwanted side effects. Traditional peoples who use these plants, such as Native Americans, have come up with clever ways of preparing and ingesting them to maximize the desired effects or make them easier to take. Traditional peoples do not tamper with the chemical composition of the plants, however. For example, South American Indians have found that drying coca leaves and mixing them with ashes or other alkalis increases their stimulant effect. They have also learned to make a powerful snuff from the resin of the virola tree (a DMT-containing plant) in order to take... 

Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) Virola tree Virola calophylla and other species South America Yakee, yopo... 

Oo-koo-he is made from the resin of certain trees of the Myris-ticaceous genus Virola mixed with the ashes of other plants and rolled into pellets and swallowed. What was eye-catching about the description of this visionary plant preparation was that the Witoto tribe of the Upper Amazon, who alone knew the secret of making it, used it to talk to "little men" and to gain knowledge from them. 

Material Indole-based alkaloid found in seeds, pods, bark, and resins of several South American trees, including Piptadenia peregrina and Virola calophylla, used in the snuffs yopo, epena, and parica. 

Inner bark from the tree represented here by its leaves is the main species of Virolas used by South A merican natives as a source of psychoactive tryptamines. 

Fig. 7.4 Aboveground biomass and roots (0-15 cm soil depth) of 3-year-old stands of 4 indigenous tree species Terminalia amazonia, Hieronyma alchomeoides, Albizia guachapele, and Virola koschnyi, grown in pure plots, and a mixture of the 4 species at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica.

Ozonolysis of 5 yielded a compound which provided an El mass spectrum possessing many ions in common with 5. Chemical ionization mass spectral analysis of the ozonolysis product gave a molecular weight of 296, thus locating the side chain double bond between the carbons 10 and 11 These data collectively indicated a tentative structure of 3,6-dihydroxy-2-[l-oxo-10(E)-tetradecenyl]-cyclohex-2-en-l-one for the major component. Other than the report by Mudd, the only other reported occurrence of this class of compound is tom the fruits of the Brazilian trees Virola elongata and V. sebifera (2). 

Species of the Myristicaceae family are widely distributed in the Amazon region, occurring in "terra firme" and inundated forests. Popularly known as "virola" their wood has been extensively exploited in carpentry and cellulose manufacture (7). The Indian name "ucuuba" means fat producing tree, suggesting one of the most important features provided by their seeds. 

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