Psychotria of the Rubiaceae (Madder) Family
Aka Psychotria viridis Ruiz et Pavon
Location: South America (Particularly the Amazon, Columbia, Bolivia and Brazil)
This is a small evergreen, a shrub technically, which becomes the height of a small tree. It grows no more than 10 feet tall and has a very thick, strong and woody trunk. The leaves are long, lanky and twisted. Flowers are usually green or white and the fruit is a red berry.
The leaves, by tradition, were important for making Ayahuasca. Today, they still are used to make an Ayahuasca analog. After being dried the leaves offer many alkaloids for extraction including DMT, MMT, and MTHC.
