Latua pubiflora
Although Indians have stated that culebra-borrachera grows wild in the neighbouring mountain forests, it has never been found by botanists and this information is now doubted. When the tree is in cultivation, it is apparently the hereditary property of certain families, forasmuch as the witch-doctors pass it on to the eldest son together with the secrets attending its use.
More than a century ago, a highly toxic plant native to the coastal mountains of Chile was described as a new species, Latua venenosa. The correct name of the spiny shrub, known locally as latu? or ?rbol de los brujos (" sorcerers' tree "), is now Latua pubiflora.
This unusual solanaceous plant was employed by medicine men as a virulent poison capable of producing delirium and hallucinations and oftentimes occasioning permanent insanity. It was used especially by the Indians of the Province of Valdivia. No cult or ritual apparently accompanied its utilization, but it was widely known and feared. It was said that a madness of any duration could be induced according to the strength of the dose, and that the natives kept the dosage a guarded secret. Accidental poisonings also happened, since Latua pubiflora closely resembled Flotowia diacanthoides, a shrub known as tayu employed medicinally as a decoc- tion of the bark to treat bruises and blows and with which many people confounded it.
Latua pubiflora is apparently nowhere abundant, and there are even very few specimens of it in the world's herbaria.
Chemical analysis of Latua pubiflora has not been rigorously carried out, and, although alkaloids presumably of the tropane series were reported from earlier studies, modern techniques should be employed in an examination of properly vouchered material.
The Plant Kingdom and Hallucinogens by Richard Evans Schultes
ARBOL DE LOS BRUJOS ("sorcerers' tree") or latu? (Latua pubiflora) is used by the Mapuche Indian medicine men of Valdivia, Chile, to cause delirium, hallucinations, and occasionally permanent insanity. There is no cult or ritual surrounding its use, but the tree is widely feared and respected. Dosages are a closely guarded secret, and it is widely believed that a madness of any desired duration may be induced by a medicine man who knows how to measure the doses properly. The natives employ the fresh fruits. The alkaloids hyoscyamine and scopolamine have been isolated from the fruit and are responsible for its potent effects. The only species of Latua known, the tree is confined to coastal mountains of central Chile. It belongs to the nightshade family, Solanaceae.
Golden Guide Hallucinogenic Plants, by Richard Evans Shultes
Tropane alkaloids from Latua pubiflora.
Munoz O, Casale JF.
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Santiago, Chile. omunoz@uchile.cl
Four known tropane alkaloids were isolated from the leaves of the endemic Chilean plant Latua pubiflora (Solanaceae). For the first time; 3alpha-cinnamoyloxitropane and apoatropine are reported in this plant. Scopolamine and hyoscyamine were previously reported.
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