Prosopis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It contains around 45 species of spiny trees and shrubs found in subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Western Asia, and South Asia. They often thrive in arid soil and are resistant to drought, on occasion developing extremely deep root systems. Their wood is usually hard, dense and durable. Their fruits are pods and may contain large amounts of sugar. The generic name means "burdock" in late Latin and originated in the Greek language.
Anadenanthera peregrina, also known as yopo, jopo, cohoba, parica or calcium tree, is a perennial tree of the genus Anadenanthera native to the Caribbean and South America. It grows up to 20 m (66 ft) tall, and has a horny bark. Its flowers grow in small, pale yellow to white spherical clusters resembling Acacia inflorescences. It is an entheogen which has been used in healing ceremonies and rituals for thousands of years in northern South America and the Caribbean. Although the seeds of the yopo tree were originally gathered from the wild, increased competition between tribes over access to the seeds led to it being intentionally cultivated and transported elsewhere, expanding the plant's distribution through introduction to areas beyond its original native range.
Cohoba is a Taíno Indian transliteration for a ceremony in which the ground seeds of the cojóbana tree were inhaled, the Y-shaped nasal snuff tube used to inhale the substance, and the psychoactive drug that was inhaled. Use of this substance produced a hallucinogenic, entheogenic, or psychedelic effect. The cojóbana tree is believed by some to be Anadenanthera peregrina although it may have been a generalized term for psychotropics, including the quite toxic Datura and related genera (Solanaceae). The corresponding ceremony using cohoba-laced tobacco is transliterated as cojibá. This was said to have produced the sense of a visionary journey of the kind associated with the practice of shamanism.
Psychotria viridis, also known as chacruna, chacrona, or chaqruy in the Quechua languages, is a perennial, shrubby flowering plant in the coffee family Rubiaceae. It is a close relative of Psychotria carthagenensis of Ecuador. It is commonly used as an ingredient of ayahuasca, a decoction with a long history of its entheogenic use and its status as a "plant teacher" among the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest.
Anadenanthera is a genus of South American trees in the Legume family, Fabaceae. The genus contains two to four species, including A. colubrina and A. peregrina. These trees respectively are known to the western world primarily as sources of the hallucinogenic snuffs vilca/cebil and yopo/cohoba.
Mimosa tenuiflora, syn. Mimosa hostilis, also known as jurema preta, calumbi (Brazil), tepezcohuite (México), carbonal, cabrera, jurema, black jurema, and binho de jurema, is a perennial tree or shrub native to the northeastern region of Brazil and found as far north as southern Mexico, and the following countries: El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela. It is most often found in lower altitudes, but it can be found as high as 1,000 m (3,300 ft).
Anadenanthera colubrina is a South American tree closely related to yopo, or Anadenanthera peregrina. It grows to 5–20 m (16–66 ft) tall and the trunk is very thorny. The leaves are mimosa-like, up to 30 cm (12 in) in length and they fold up at night. In Argentina, A. colubrina produces flowers from September to December and bean pods from September to July. In Brazil A. colubrina has been given "high priority" conservation status.
Constantino Manuel Torres, known as Manuel Torres, is an archaeologist and ethnobotanist specialising in the ethnobotany of pre-columbian South America and the Caribbean. In particular, he has shed much light on the Taíno use of Anadenanthera snuff Cohoba, its paraphernalia and associated archaeology.
Tara spinosa, commonly known as tara (Quechua), also known as Peruvian carob or spiny holdback, is a small leguminous tree or thorny shrub native to Peru. T. spinosa is cultivated as a source of tannins based on a galloylated quinic acid structure. This chemical structure has been confirmed also by LC–MS. It is also grown as an ornamental plant because of its large colorful flowers and pods.
Acaciella angustissima is most recognized for its drought tolerance and its ability to be used as a green manure and ground covering. It is a perennial, deciduous, and belongs to the family Fabaceae (beans/legumes) and as it grows it starts as a shrub but eventually matures to a small tree. The tree has a high density of leaves along with small clumps of white flowers and creates 4–7 cm long seed pods. Acaciella angustissima is found in tropical areas around the equator since, its water needs can vary from 750 to 2,500 mm a year. It has an advantage it can withstand a moderate drought, since its leaves are retained even in long dry periods. Aside from being drought tolerant, Acaciella angustissima also has the benefit of being a green manure, since it has such a high leaf density, but also loses the majority of its leaves each season. So the leaves can be used in composting or can be saved and used as livestock feed. It should only be used as an additive to the feed and not the main source, since it also toxic in high doses.
Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil is a mimosa-like timber tree native to Caatinga and Cerrado vegetation in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru. It has also been introduced to Mauritius. It grows up to 25 m (82 ft) tall, with a trunk diameter of 60–90 cm (24–35 in). The tree's mimosa-like leaves range in length from about 7–20 cm (2.8–7.9 in). The flowers are cream-colored and arrive in the spring. The seed pods are fairly straight and contain about 8 to 15 seeds each. The seeds are flat, average each about 1.5 cm (0.59 in) in diameter and have an average mass of about 0.125 g (0.0044 oz) each. The tree's wood has a density of about 840 kg/m3 (1,420 lb/cu yd).
Albizia lebbeck is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar. It is widely cultivated and naturalised in other tropical and subtropical regions, including Australia. Common names in English include siris, Indian siris, East Indian walnut, Broome raintree, lebbeck, lebbek tree, frywood, koko and woman's tongue tree. The latter name is a play on the sound the seeds make as they rattle inside the pods. Siris is also a common name of the genus Albizia.
Albizia inundata is a perennial tree native to South America. Common names include maloxo, muqum, paloflojo, timbo blanco, timbo-ata, and also "canafistula" though this usually refers Cassia fistula.
Havardia albicans is a perennial tree of the family Fabaceae that grows to 5 meters tall. It is native to Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America, in regions around the Yucatan Peninsula. Common names for it include chucum and cuisache. It is reputed to be psychoactive.
Anadenanthera colubrina var. colubrina is a tree native to Argentina and Brazil. Common names for it include Angico, Angico-brabo-liso, Angico-cambui, Angico-coco, Angico-escuro, Angico-liso, Angico-vermelho, Aperta-ruao and Cambui-angico.
Virola sebifera is a species of tree in the family Myristicaceae, from North and South America.
Echinopsis pachanoi —known as San Pedro cactus—is a fast-growing columnar cactus native to the Andes Mountains at 2,000–3,000 m (6,600–9,800 ft) in altitude. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, and it is cultivated in other parts of the world. Uses for it include traditional medicine and traditional veterinary medicine, and it is widely grown as an ornamental cactus. It has been used for healing and religious divination in the Andes Mountains region for over 3,000 years. It is sometimes confused with its close relative Echinopsis peruviana.
A snuff tray, also known as a snuff tablet, is a hand-carved tablet or tray that was made for the purpose of inhaling a psychoactive drug (also referred to as being hallucinogenic, entheogenic, or psychedelic, in the form similar to tobacco snuff prepared as a powder using a snuff tube. Snuff trays are best-known from the Tiwanaku culture of the Andes in South America. The principal substance thought to have been inhaled was known as willka, also referred to as cebil, and known as yopó in northern South America and cohoba in the Greater Antilles, where it was also prepared from other species of the genus Anadenanthera.
