Solandra Maxima

[druid001]

I was letting my Solandra plant get some sun but it got extremely windy and by the time I got it back inside, it lost 2 leaves. So I'm suddenly very interested in the what, who, how's There are a lot of ayahuasca recipes that use small amounts for whatever reason, weather to add some spice or counteract effects of other ingredients but I don't know anything about what can be done by itself.


Solandra use is fairly common amongst Mexican Indians (mostly the Huichol people), it is added often to ayahuasca mixes in South America, and it is even used by native Australian shamans of many different tribes. However I haven't been able to obtain much information elsewhere except being used in medical research or being listed on poisonous plants lists in Florida. Even though some believe it to be associated with positive things, the majority of the people see it as an evil plant and they associate it with dark spells, black magic, etc... Insomnia posted it in his/her list of "do not touch" "tropane containing plants" list. Solandra Grandiflora has the highest amount of Tropane, thus most likely making it the most psychedelic plant of the genus if not subfamily but there isn't much info on the Solandra Maxima that I could find.


I know that it also contains a mydriatic alkoloid called Solandrin, meaning it causes the pupils to dilate. Actually a few years back, I remember reading about a medical study in one of the universities (somewhere in Michigan if I am remembering correctly) in which they broke the leaf and administered the liquid straight into the eye, but the native tribes who have been using them for probably thousands of years have already been using it to cure eye ailments for a very long time. Solandria is also the one plant that has more atropic acid contents than any other plant in the Solanaceae family. Both tropic and atropic acids are derived from typtophan. Tropic acid's composition is C9 H10 O3 while atropic acid's composition is C9 H8 O2. Supposedly the major difference except the atoms is their solubility in water, and atropic acid can also be converted into tropic acid (while tropic acid can not be converted into atropic acid) but it produces other molecules as well.

From the users of Solandra, the ones who don't see it as evil mostly use it for precognition and to communicate with higher beings but again, I don't have much information. It seems they almost always use the flower and the leaves are what were being used for the eye problems.

The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications by Christian Rastch has the following:

Psychoactive Material • Flowers • Stalks • Leaves Preparation and Dosage A tea can be made from the stalks (Schultes and Farnsworth 1982, 166*). The fresh stalks can be pressed to obtain a juice; "the shoot juice of Solandra maxima [= S. nitida] is an inebriant of the Mexican Indians" (Bremness 1995, 29*).

The Huastec are said to still ingest the flowers of solandra nitida ritually and to place the scented flowers on altars as an offering (Alcorn 1984, 320, 793*). The Mixtec also are reported to traditionally ingest Solandra as a hallucinogen for divination (Avila B. 1992*). The most well-known use of the "plant of the gods" known as kieli or kieri occurs among the Huichol Indians who now live in the Mexican state of Jalisco.

The Huastec use the rainwater or dew that has collected in the buds of solandra nitida as eyedrops to improve sight (Alcorn 1984, 793*). A tea made from the flowers is drunk to treat coughing (Yasumoto 1996,247). Constituents All of the Mexican species of Solandra contain potently hallucinogenic tropane alkaloids.

In Mexico, solandra nitida Zucc. (Perilla) is regarded as poisonous (Jiu 1966, 256*). A tea made from one flower induced a "toxic psychosis" in an adult, who required thirty-six hours to make The illustration to the left shows the kiele plant {Solandra sp.) on a Huichol yarn painting; the blooming shrubs to the right are from wall paintings at Teotihuacan and may represent Solandra bushes. (From Ratsch 1994) "Rue, leaves of henbane and thorn apple, dried Solandras and myrrh; these are the odors that are pleasing to Satan, our lord.

Solanda grandiflora and solandra nitida are the most commonly cultivated species for garden and ornamental use (Bartels 1993, 207*). Appearance The perennial, heavily branching, fast-growing climber develops oblong-elliptic leaves that are up to 15 cm in length and tapered at the end. The solitary, terminal, chalice-shaped yellow flowers exude a sweet scent, usually in the evening, that is intoxicating, delicious, and very fine. This scent is comparable to the perfume of Brugmansia suaveolens or Brugmansia x insignis.

The flower of solandra nitida can attain a length of 20 cm. Its fruits, known as papaturra, can weigh as much as 1 kg (Bartels 1993, 207*). Solandra species can be confused with the tropical dogbane Allamandra cathartica L., a potent laxative (Blohm 1962, 79 f.*).

Scopolia carniolica Scopolia spp. solandra brevicalyx Solandra guerrerensis Solandra guttata Solandra nitida Solandra spp. Solanum dulcamara Solanum hirtum Solanum nigrum Solanum villosum Solanum spp. Withania somnifera Scrophulariaceae Digitalis purpurea Lancea tibetica Scoparia dulcis Bignoniaceae Tanaecium nocturnum Acanthaceae Justicia pectoralis var. stenophylla Pseuderanthemum sp. Teliostachys lanceolata var. crispa Lentibulariaceae Utricularia minor Valerianaceae Valeriana officinalis Valeriana spp.

Don ex Lindley (possibly identical to solandra brevicalyx, Furst 1995, 55) Solandra nitida Zucc. [syn. Solandra maxima P.S. Green, Solandra hartwegii N.E. Brown, Swartzia nitida Zucc.J—cutaquatzitziqui, copa de oro To nonbotanists, these four species are difficult if not impossible to distinguish (Morton 1995, 20*). The Indians regard them as equivalent. The following species, which occur in Mexico and are rich in alkaloids (Evans et al. 1972), have not been ethnobotanically described or investigated to date: Solandra grandiflora Sw. Solandra hirsuta Dun. Solandra macrantha Dun.

The Huichol refer to solandra brevicalyx as the "true" kieli, and to Datura innoxia as kielitsha, "bad kieli" (Knab 1977,81). Distribution The genus Solandra is indigenous to Mexico (Schultes and Farnsworth 1982,166*). Most of the species occur in central Mexico. The genus is represented to the south as far as the rain forests of Chiapas (Martinez 1966). Several species have spread into the Caribbean and to South America (Peru) (Furst 1995,51). Cultivation Propagation is easily performed with cuttings.

The fresh leaves (of solandra brevicalyx) can be crushed and administered as an anal suppository or given as a decoction in the form of an enema (Knab 1977, 85). The dried flowers and leaves can be smoked alone or as a part of smoking blends. A medicinal dosage is regarded as the tea prepared from one fresh flower (Yasumoto 1996, 247). In colonial Mexico, Indians used the cup of gold to add zest to their cacao drinks (cf. Theo-broma cacao) (Heffern 1974,101*). Ritual Use The cup of gold is only rarely used as a shamanic trance drug, and the ethnographic reports are correspondingly few.

One of the plants they use has been botanically identified as solandra brevicalyx (Knab 1977, 86). In the mythology of the Huichol, the plant was originally a god: Kieli Tewiali, the god of wind and of magic. At the beginning of the world, he was born of the union of the cosmic serpent and the rain. Later, for the use and the blessing of humankind, he transformed himself into the enchantingly scented plant the "tree of the wind." An entire cycle of myths relates to this theme (Furst and Myerhoff 1966).

Effects The Huichol compare the visions produced by solandra brevicalyx with the effects of Lophophora williamsii but warn against the former because they may frighten a person "to death" (Knab 1977). In Mexico, Solandra nitida Zucc. (Perilla) is regarded as poisonous (Jiu 1966, 256*). A tea made from one flower induced a "toxic psychosis" in an adult, who required thirty-six hours to make The illustration to the left shows the kiele plant {Solandra sp.) on a Huichol yarn painting; the blooming shrubs to the right are from wall paintings at Teotihuacan and may represent Solandra bushes.

Sorry, I kept hitting ctrl-v multiple times while the computer was having a hiccup and ended up posting the same thing 2-3 times. I keep editing and removing the duplicate text and I think I got it all.

But anyway, any feedback would be welcome, especially any experiences.

 

[pinkoyd]

Good work there druid, glad to see someone interested in this plant. She's a beauty!

Be careful not to rely overly much on Ratsch's encyclopedia though. As useful as the book can be, there are known errors sprinkled throughout, so it's a good idea to use other sources to corroborate the information he presents.

 

[frozenthunderbolt]

Be careful not to rely overly much on Ratsch's encyclopedia though. As useful as the book can be, there are known errors sprinkled throughout, so it's a good idea to use other sources to corroborate the information he presents.

It's a weighty tome, interesting to read though.
Did note a few errors relating to doseages in the bit i've read so far.
Any recommendations for a better or complimentary reference book? (for instances in which i cant access the web)