Short Communications:MEXICO AND COLOMBIA.

TWO MAJOR CENTRES OF ABORIGINALUSE OF HALLUCINOGENS

It has often been wondered why the New World isso much richer in species of plants used forhallucinogenic purposes than the Old World. There havebeen attempts to explain this apparent discrepancy onthe basis of cultural background (LaBarre 1970). Thereis certainly no botanical reason why the New World florashould be considered to be richer or poorer in potentialhallucinogens than the Old World, so it may not beexplained on the basis of greater availability ofhallucinogenic plants in the Western Hemisphere(Schultes 1973).

When one considers the New World, moreover, oneis struck with the great disparity in use of hallucinogensin various parts of North, Central and South America.North America (north of and exclusive of Mexico) is

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rather poor in the use of hallucinogenic plants. The greatexpanse of Brazil and the Argentine in South America(excluding the Amazon Valley) is very obviously poor inplants employed for the induction of visions and otherhallucinations, Guianas, the West Indies and all ofCentral America have yielded little of interest in thisr e s p e c t . J

Mexico and Colombia stand out, nonetheless, as thetwo areas where primitive societies most assiduouslyhave employed hallucinogenic plants in magico-religious,medical or divinatory rituals. A brief review of the richethnopharmacologic store of the peoples who made upthe advanced pre-Colombian civilizations of Mexico andthe Chibcha and oTrTer-e«kures_of Colombia and anevaluation of the tradition which both have left formodern societies may be illuminating.

The ethnopharmacopoeia of hallucinogenic drugsappears to be richest in Mexico. The number of plants

Vol. 9(No. 2) Apr-Jun, 1977

SCHULTES SHORT COMMUNICATIONS

employed for their hallucinogenic properties and knownto the ancients is very large: peyote (LophophoraWilliamsii, L. diffusa); sinicuichi (Heimia salicifolia);piule, (Rhynchosia spp.); ololiuqui {Rivea corymbosa);tlitliltzin {Ipomoea violacea); toloache (Datura spp.);

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Drawing of the ololiuqui of the ancient Aztecs (Riveacorymbosa) still used in Oaxaca. From the FlorentinoCodex of Sahagun's Historia de las cosas de la NuevaEspaha, written during the middle of the 16th Century.

gi-i-wa (Lycoperdon spp.); frijolillo (Sophora secundi-flora); zacatechichi (Calea Zacatechicbi); hojas de laPastora (Salvia divinorum). Only a few of these plantsare fully investigated as to their hallucinogenic

properties. Evidence that other Mexican plants wereused or are being used in aboriginal cultures is turningup. There are growing indications that even tobacco(Nicotiana Tabacum and N. rustica) occasionally hashallucinogenic effects as employed in certain native New-World (including Mexican) ceremonies.

Colombia — with its Andean, Amazonian andcoastal areas, not to mention its Orinoco basin and thenorthwest sectors of the Choco — represents undoubtedly the richest phytogeographic part of the New Worldand the region where, it appears, primitive societies mostvalued hallucinogenic drugs. This Republic can count ona large number of psychoactively employed plants:Datura arborea, D. aurea, D. dolichocarpa, D. sanguineaD. suaveolens and D. vulcanicola; MethysticodendronAmesianum; Iochroma fuchsioides; Banisteriopsis Caapi,B. inebrious, B. Rusbyana; Psychotria viridis; Coriariathymifolia; Anadenanthora (Piptadenia) peregrina-.

Flowering vine of Ipomoea violacea, probable source of the tlitliltzin of the ancient Aztecs and still employed inOaxaca.

Photo: R.G. Wasson

Journal of Psychedelic Drugs Vol. 9(No. 2) Apr-Jun, 1977

sCHULTES SHORT COMMUNICATIONS

\>lrola calophylla, V. calophylloidea, V. theiodora;nossibly Tetrapteris methystica and others.

Why these two parts of the New World — Mexicojnd Colombia — should be so rich in plant hallucinogens

can only be guessed at the present time, but a partialreason may be the wealth of the floras of these twoareas: especially Colombia, with an estimated flora of50,000 species of higher plants (Schultes 1951). Mexico

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Makuna medicine-man gathering stems of Banisteriopsis Caapi for preparation of narcotic caapi drink. Rio Popeyaca,Amazonas, Colombia.

Photo: R.E. Schultes

Journal of Psychedelic Drugs Vol. 9(No. 2) Apr-Jun, 1977

SCHULTES

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-) L A N T A M , quam Mexicenfes. Pytttlt,fcu r./r voc-inr, ,ib Hlitinis ap-

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SfE'S. nullis Nicotiana dicitur.Non eft auccm vnaffS?/ hu,us Planl1 'Pccics • alli namqne era in. Sp"'c'

^ /STT h°C anci<'uo °rbc^Pmri aff irmant, acS«, IrrlL pl^ntam hanc in Tilacum miiorcm, mi-

'-S<\ norcm, & minimum partinntur. At quia..^**^J£> maioris, minoriscj; T.ibacidifferentiapu-

?Yv^ lilla eft (confillit enim in magnttudinc, &rT\ longitudine , ac adha-renua foliorum finej

£-7 pediculis cauli, vt in m.iiori obleruatur , inp / minori vero folium eft paulo minus, lon^o

W^SZfS pcoKuloramisinharrenSjacflorum pciim-j^ilSn, <r^. " ; cumq, id ob cauflas mur.itiones in plan-^&3&l'j'\- t,s c^clenti:s > latius in procrmio explicatas

contingcrc potucrit ) non immerito dua:obferuantur in hac nouaHifpania.auarum alteram , .

ryatu, alteram verc^mhyeltappellant. PfrMrergo hetb.i eft, folia ferens ?&to, Oblongs,ac Perlo.utaiquadantenus fimilia, cauics, quinque pluresvedo. »(«' "drantes longos, atque hlrfutos, inconditos, ftr,'atos,& laiues. flores Hyofcyamilute, fimiles.eisq, decidcntibus vafcula predict, Hyofcyami smula, rcferta le-

7' Puf,llo> P*P™<™ minore, ac ex rufo nigricans. radicem breuem, non SKt(„„admodum tenuem, led fibratam . %w^/, vero in magnam aflWens alti &'«<r<>tudmem, Adymm Malum.Limone vocata,*-quat. Caule reilo multos emit- 'tentc ramos & ln ets folia mall Aflyrij longiora, hirfuta, colore viridi dilutio-rc. vt. toca planta d.ffufa . interdumquc folia, foli, & cccli rationc variantur.quandoque emm cub.talem longitudinem, ac pedalem latitudinem aflccuraline pedtculocaulcm ampleclunmr. nonnumquam vera folia minora , pedi-cuhsmhzrentiararnisconfpiciunrur. Flores Campanula: inftarfert.concauos,-c per extremum (ex, feptemue angulis diftindlos, candicances, medio vero, urpurefcentes, ordme per ramulorum longitudinem difpofiros . quibus fuc-cedunt capttula Ocymoidi fimilia,maiora tame, plena fernine pufillo ex cinc-

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Reproduction of the illustration of Nicotiana rustica anda portion of the discussion of tobacco from Hernandez'Rerum medicarum Novae Hispaniae thesaurus, seuplantarum, animalium, mineralium mexicanorum histor-ia, published in 1651.

had a very highly developed and narcotic-orientedculture at the time of the Conquest. Colombiaapparently did not. The Chibcha culture, whichovershadowed most of Colombia, was not so highlyadvanced as the Mexican cultures, nor was it assophisticated as that of the neighbouring Inca Empire tothe south.

We know as yet relatively little about the use ofhallucinogens by the Chibchas and members of theirempire. More and more information is becomingavailable as archaeological progress is being made. Theuse of so many hallucinogens in present cultures inColombia and their importance, however, assure us ofthe antiquity of the custom (Uscategui 1959). The wellestablished utilization of hallucinogenic drugs in

S H O R T C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

ceremonies in both the Andean and Amazonian parts ofColombia is, however, well recognized and mostcertainly must be significant of antiquity of use.

An important aspect concerning these two geographic parts of New World use of hallucinogens pertainsto the fact that there are no two species used commonlyin both areas. And, except for the genus Datura, eventhe genera and plant families are usually not the sameWith Datura, the species employed - although possessing the same active chemical constituents - are whollvdistinct, and the South American species are oftenconsidered to represent a different genus, Brugmansia.

Mexico and Colombia stand out as the two areaswhere native cultures in pre-Columbian times used - andstill use - the greatest number of plant species for theirhallucinogenic purposes. The reasons may not yet beclear, but modern research does indicate that even morehallucinogens are employed in Mexico and Colombiathan those now known. And, furthermore, there isevidence that we still do not botanically know all of thehallucinogenic plants used in either of these countries.The years to come are certain to amplify the list.

R E F E R E N C E S

LaBarre, W. 1970. Old and New World narcotics: a statisticalquestion and an ethnological reply. Economic Botany Vol24: 73-80.

Ott, J. 1976. Hallucinogenic Plants of North America. Berkeley:Wingbow Press.

Safford, W.E. 1917. Narcotic plants and stimulants of theancient Americans. Annual Report. Smithsonian Institution1916: 387-424.

Schultes, R.E. 1976. Hallucinogenic Plants New York: GoldenPress.

Schultes, R.E. 1951. La riqueza de la flora colcmbiana. Revistade la Academia colombiania de ciencias exactas, ffsicas Vnaturales Vol. 8: 230-242.

Schultes, R.E. & Hofmann, A. 1973. The Botany and Chemistryof Hallucinogens. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas

Uscategui M., N. 1960-61. Distribucion actual de las plantasnarcot.cas y estimulantes usadas por las tribus indigenas deColombia. Revista de la Academia colombiania de cienciasexactas, fisicas y naturales Vol. 11: 215-228

Uscategui M., N. 1959. The present distribution of narcotics andsnmulants amongst the Indian tribes of Colombia. BotanicalMuseum Leaflets (Harvard University) Vol. 18: 273-304

Richard Evans Schultes, Ph.D.Paul C. Mangelsdorf Professor of Natural Sciences

Director, Botanical MuseumHarvard University, Oxford StreetCambridge, Massachusetts 02138.

Journal of Psychedelic DrugsVol. 9(No. 2) Apr-Jun, 19',