Ipomoea corymbosa is a species of morning glory, native throughout Latin America from Mexico as far south as Peru and widely naturalised elsewhere. Its common names include Christmasvine,[2]Christmaspops, and snakeplant.[3]
Known to natives of north and central Mexico by its Nahuatl name, coaxihuitl and by the south eastern natives as xtabentún (in Mayan), it is a perennial climbing vine with white flowers, often grown as an ornamental plant. Its flowers secrete copious amount of nectar, and the honey that bees make from it is very clear and aromatic. It also grows in Cuba, where it usually blooms from early December to February. It is considered one of the main honey plants of the island.
This plant is often used for purposes other than recreation, as natives of Mexico consider the flour produced from its seeds (distinguished as ololiuhqui ("round things")) a tool for divination and communion with spirits. Because of the widespread use among native tribes, Colonial rules initially feared ololiuhqui and banned it introducing harsh punishments for users.[4]
Chemical properties
Seeds of Ipomoea corymbosa (Synonyms: Rivea corymbosa and Turbina corymbosa)
The Nahuatl word ololiuhqui means "round thing", and refers to the small, brown, oval seeds of the morning glory,[5] not the plant itself, which is called coaxihuitl (“snake-plant") in Nahuatl, and hiedra, bejuco or quiebraplatos in the Spanish language. The seeds, in Spanish, are sometimes called semilla de la Virgen (seeds of the Virgin Mary).[citation needed] While little of it is known outside of Mexico, its seeds were perhaps the most common psychedelic drug used by the natives.[6]
In 1941, Richard Evans Schultes first identified ololiuhqui as Turbina corymbosa and the chemical composition was first described in 1960 in a paper by Albert Hofmann.[7] The seeds contain ergine (LSA), an ergolinealkaloid which is also present in ergot of rye and is similar in structure to LSD. Ergot of rye was part of the Kykeon, the drink which was a component of the Eleusinian mysteries.[8] The psychedelic properties of Turbina corymbosa and a comparison of the potency of different varieties were studied in the Central Intelligence Agency's MKULTRA Subproject 22 in 1956.
My chemical investigations of Ololiuhqui seeds led to the unexpected discovery that the entheogenic principles of Ololiuhqui are alkaloids, especially lysergic acid amide, which exhibits a very close relationship to lysergic acid diethylamide (=ʟsᴅ). It follows therefrom that ʟsᴅ, which hitherto had been considered to be a synthetic product of the laboratory, actually belongs to the group of sacred Mexican drugs.
— Albert Hofmann, Burg i.L., Switzerland, November 1992[9]
Distribution
This species is an invasive species to the United States,[10] Europe (Spain),[10] and Australia,[11] where it has become more naturalized.
^Schultes, R.E. (2014). A CONTRIBUTION TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OF RIVEA CORYMBOSA THE NARCOTIC OLOLIUQUI OF THE AZTECS. Botanical Museum of Harvard University.
^Ruck, Carl A. P. (2006). Sacred Mushrooms of the Goddess: The Secrets of Eleusis. Berkeley, California: Ronin Publishing, Inc. ISBN978-1-57951-030-5 “Ololiuhqui was far more prominent as an entheogen here in Mesoamerica than those mushrooms; the mushrooms are mentioned only here and there by a few competent chroniclers; yet almost an entire book was devoted to denouncing mainly the ololiuhqui idolatry. The annals of the Inquisition contain many times more autos de fe for ololiuhqui than for mushrooms.” Jonathan Ott, 15. Mixing the Kykeon Anew (section: Ergine){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^Rätsch, Ch (1998). Enzyklopädie der psychoaktiven Pflanzen (3rd ed.). Aarau: AT Verlag. ISBN3-85502-570-3.
^Ott, Jonathan (1996) [1993-07]. "Foreword". Pharmacotheon: Entheogenic Drugs, Their Plant Sources and History (2nd Edition, Densified ed.). Natural Products Co. p. 13. ISBN9780961423490.
