Virola
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many species, including: |
Virola, also known as Epená, is a genus of medium-sized tree native to the South American rainforest and closely related to other Myristicaceae, such as nutmeg. It has glossy, dark leaves with clusters of tiny yellow flowers and emits a pungent odor. The dark-red resin of the tree bark contains several hallucinogenic alkaloids, most notably 5-MeO-DMT, perhaps the most "powerful" member of the Dimethyltryptamine family; it also contains beta-carbolines from the harmala family, MAOIs that greatly potentiate the effects of DMT.
The bark resin is prepared and dried by a variety of methods, often including the addition of ash or lime, presumably as basifying agents, and a powder made from the leaves of the small Justicia bush. Ingestion is similar to that of Yopo, consisting of assisted insufflation, with the snuff being blown through a long tube into the nostrils by an assistant.
See also
Books
- Jonathan Ott - Shamanic Snuffs or Entheogenic Errhines (2001) ISBN 1888755024
- Richard Evans Schultes - Plants of the Gods (1992) ISBN 0892819790