CEBIL: an American hallucinogenic plant in Botany books by

CEBIL: an American hallucinogenic plant in Botany books by
different authors
Dra. Ariadna VIGLIONE, SEDRONAR, Buenos Aires
Prof. Nelly VALLEJO, Researcher, Tucumán
40th International Congress for the History of Pharmacy
Berlín
September 2011
Since the times of the American conquest, in numerous Pharmacobotany textbooks by
American and European authors, Cebil has been described as a hallucinogenic species,
broadly used by indigenous peoples in different regions of South America.
Let us start by citing what Prof. Amorin used to say in his Botany classes: “Let us start
by a taxonomic identification of the specimen".
Name : Anad nanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan
Origin of the scientific name: Anadenanthera means without anther glands.
SYNONIMS: Acacia cebil Griseb.
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Acacia colubrina Mart.
Acacia grata Willd.
Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil (Griseb.) Altschul 1964
Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan var. Colubrina 1988
Anadenanthera macrocarpa (Benth.) Brenan
Mimosa colubrina Vell.
Piptadenia cebil (Griseb.) Griseb.
Piptadenia hassleriana Chodat
Piptadenia hassleriana Chodat var. fruticosa Chodat & Hass
Piptadenia grata (Willd.) J.F.Macbr.
Piptadenia macrocarpa Benth.
Piptadenia macrocarpa Benth. var. cebil (Griseb.) Chodat & Hass
Piptadenia macrocarpa Benth. var. genuina Chodat & Hass
Piptadenia macrocarpa Benth. var. plurifoliata Hoehne
Piptadenia macrocarpa Benth. var. vestita Chodat & Hass
Piptadenia microphylla Benth.
Superkingdom:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Plantae
Division:
Magnoliophyta
Class:
Magnoliopsida
Order:
Fabales
Family:
Fabaceae
Subfamily:
Mimosoideae
Tribe:
Mimoseae
Gender:
Anadenanthera
Species:
A. colubrina
Archeological studies have shown that in Andean societies, the use of hallucinogenic
plants dates back from approximately 2000 A.C. Also, thanks to the contribution of
ethnographic studies, it is known that it was consumed by oral or nasal routes, smoking
it in cigars or pipes, consuming the plants or parts of the plant and in enemas.
The Incas used a considerable number of substances with psychoactive properties, both
for ritual ceremonies or for medicinal use. The use of the natural drugs used by this
civilization dates back from the depths of time. 16
Consumption of plants with psychotropic properties was very common in the prehispanic world, though common should not be understood as massive or for daily use,
since it is known that consumption was restricted to religious ceremonies and was
consumed by a group of specialists.
Plants with these properties, capable of causing strange effects in humans, interpreted at
that time as related to the magic and uncanny, were considered sacred and attached
great importance in social and religious life, like many elements of nature. In the Inca
world in particular, and in the pre-hispanic Andean world in general, we find that this
plant was part of a universe where the natural and the cultural aspects were part of a
whole, in which mountains were Apus, or Gods that interacted with people in a dialogue
mediated by offers, in a society that believed that rocks had a soul, spirits lived in the
water springs and the death of a child could restore the balance of the universe. In this
world Earth and the Sea manifested themselves as feminine deities (Pachamama y
Mamacocha), a dynamic world of unanimated objects with their own lives and feelings.
In this cultural context, a disease was the result of a ruptured balance with uncanny
forces, materialized in elements of nature, and, the contact with deities could be
achieved under the effects of certain plants that had mysterious powers.
The main wife of one of the Incas suffered from what is known today as depression; she
was probably treated with vegetable substances with psychotropic properties. Engraving
by Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala, a colonial chronicler.
This species is easily reproduced by seeds. There is evidence that primitive inhabitants of
America made small plantations of the species.
However, there is no current data on the cultivation, but it is presumed that there are
some, given the importance of its wood and its excellent growth rate.
In the Andes the tools most frequently used in connection with this habit were made of
ceramic, rock or bones, in the shape of pipes, inhalation tubes and tablets. Also, there
are some artistic representations in petroglyphs and cave paintings that some researchers
interpret as representations of the consumption of these substances, or else that they
were made under their effect.
Distribution and habitat
Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina. In Argentina it is found in the provinces of Jujuy, Salta,
Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Catamarca, Formosa, Chaco, Misiones and Corrientes.
A. colubrina grows at altitudes of about 315-2200 m with roughly 250-600 mm/year
(10-24 in./yr.) of precipitation and a mean temperature of 21 °C. It tends to grow on
rocky hillsides in well-drained soil, often in the vicinity of rivers. It grows quickly at 11.5 m/year in good conditions.8 The growing areas are often "savannah to dry
rainforest" Flowering can begin in as soon as two years after germination.
It is characteristic of the Tucumano-Bolivian forest and of the hilly area of the Parque
Chaqueño; in the forest it is found at 400 to 800 masl, mainly along the eastern
foothills. It is rarely found in the North of Corrientes and the South of Misiones.
The fruit is glabrous, leguminosae, linear, coriaceous, dehiscent along one suture,
constricted, of a reddish-brow color. The seeds are brown, smooth, generally 8 to 15
seeds per fruit, laterally compressed, having a diameter of approximately 1.5 cm each
and an average weight of 0.125 gr each. The wood has a specific weight of 0.840
kg/dm3.
Flowering occurs during spring and fruit are born from early December to the end of the
summer.
Seeds germinate easily, however, they require care to grow into adult plants. They are
very sensitive to fungal attack, it is advisable to use fungicides. Excessive humidity
makes the seeds susceptible to rotting, thus they should not be watered in excess. It
grows well in sunny areas, in tropical and subtropical zones and is sensitive to frost.
Anadenanthera colubrina (also known as vilca, huilco, curupáy, wilco, cebil, angico, anguo).
Other popular names are: Cebil colorado, curupay, curupaí, cebil moro (Argentina). Curupa-í,
curupa-í pitá (Paraguay). Coboba, cohoba, yupa, yopa, pariká, Kurupa, hatax, jataj. Curupaí,
Cebil moro (Argentina). This South American tree is closely related to the species yopo
Anadenanthera peregrina.
It grows from 5 to 30 m tall (seldom up to 60 m) and its trunk, 60-90 cm, is very spiky.2 The
bark is dark grey, with conical protuberances. The leaves are mimosa-like, up to 30 cm in
length and they fold at night3. In the South of South America, A. colubrina produces flowers
from September to December and bean pods from September to July4.
It is a thornless tree that grows from 10 to 25 m tall with a trunk of up to 60 cm in diameter,
mammillated, ruggy, dark suberous bark and thin, lenticelled, brownish green, glabrous twigs.
Caducous, alternate, bipinnated leaves with multifoliate pinnas, reaching from 7 to 20 cm in
length.
In Brazil, A. colubrina has been given "high priority" conservation status5.
The main active ingredient of vilca is calcium bufotenate (made from the bufotenin in
the beans). A. colubrina contains 12.4% bufotenine16. Since bufotenate is quickly
metabolized, its effects are short acting. According to 1996 reports, Wichi shamans use
Vilca actively under the name of hatáj [Ott 2001, p.90].17 It is said that Incas used to
consume the beads.
In ancient Perú, cebil (Villca), had great religious importance, to the extent that high
rank priests and fortune tellers were called Villca Camayoc; a sanctuary (huaca) was
called Vilcacona, a worshiped mountain was called Vilca Coto, a sacred mountain ridge
was and is called Vilcanota and it is thought that the name of the mythical city of
Vilcabamba, in the vicinity of Machu Pichu is also related to this tree.
In this cultural context, a disease was the result of a ruptured balance with uncanny
forces, materialized in elements of nature, and, the contact with deities could be
achieved under the effects of certain plants that had mysterious powers.
Many researchers agree that the use of psychoactive substances was related to certain
mental diseases, especially for the treatment of certain depressive disorders that affected
the Inca elite, including close relatives of the governors, such as the third Coya or
Mama Cora Ocllo, the main wife of Lloque Yupanqui Inca. Guzmán Poma reports that
she used to eat very little, drink chicha abundantly and cry all the time. It is also known
that Mayta Capac, the fourth Inca, was a melancholic man and not very bright.
Dibujo de un indígena wichi consumiendo cebil durante una ceremonia.
Tomado de Schultes y Hofmann, 2000)
Hieronymus, G.: (1882:88) p/Piptadenia cebil = Acacia cebil, n.v. cebil, cebil
colorado, writes:
“… in the years when grass is scarce, the leaves that fall in winter and get dry on the
floor are good feed for animals, particularly cows. The bark is very useful for tanneries
because it contains up to 10% tannin. The wood has secondary value since it scratches
very easily; it is used for rays and shafts of carriages, door frames, pitchforks, columns
for thatched roof sheds, plows and other applications, mainly as fuel” .
In a comment added by I. T. (Inocencio Torino) to the Catalogue of Medicinal Plants of
Catamarca by F. Schickendantz in Annals of the Argentine Medical Association, Book
V. page. 122, cebil (the seeds?) provoke abortion, and it is said to prevent the
development of eggs in hens and leads to premature laying of the egg.
The trunk and twigs secret a resinous gum, usually in abundance".
Domínguez, J.A. (1928), CONTRIBUCIONES A LA MATERIA MEDICA
ARGENTINA, Bs. As., Ed., Peuser 152/3 – 433 pp.
States that in foliaceous-fluctiferous stems of Piptadenia macrocarpa collected in
January in the Botanic Gardens in the City of Buenos Aires, no cianoglucosides,
saponins or alkaloids were found, however, they did contain peroxidase and gum.
Bufotenine and N-N-dimetiltriptamine were isolated from fruits and 5 metoxi-Nmetiltriptamine from the bark and stems.
The bark may contain 10 to 30% tannins.
This species is not listed in the Argentine National Pharmacopoeia.
The bark is commonly used for medicinal and shamanic uses10. The gum is used to treat
infections of the upper respiratory tract, as expectorant and also to alleviate cough12.
Chemical compounds in A. colubrina include:
Bufotenine, beans14 15
Bufotenine oxide, beans14
N,N-dimetiltriptamine, beans10, pods10
N,N-dimetiltriptamine oxide, beans10
Pardal, R.: (1937:332-341) MEDICINA ABORIGEN AMERICANAN Ed. Biblioteca
del Americanista Moderno, B.As. 1937, Chapter XV, about Piptadenias, contains a
synopsis and reports on the use of these species by the indigenous populations.
He mentions that: “the powder of Piptadenia seeds and tobacco were the first substances
that Colon`s crew described they saw the Indians use as hallucinogens. He wrote that
the Mataco indians of Chaco use ground seeds introducing them through the nasal
orifices.
He cites that “Jesuit Father Ramón Pané, one of the first to send tobacco samples to
Europe, reports that he saw that the natives in the Antilles inhaled or smoked a grey
powder, like cinnamon, that produced violent effects and was called Cohoba”.
Amorín, J.L.: (1974:33-63), GUIA TAXONOMICA CON PLANTAS DE INTERÉS
FARMACUETICO, Ed. Publicaciones de la Academia Argentina de Farmacia y
Bioquimica, Nº1- 1974, writes that the powder obtained from roasted seeds of
Anadenanthera peregrina (L.) Speg. and other species of Anadenanthera mixed with
alkali ashes is known by the name of "piptadenia" and is used as hallucinogenic by
several South American indigenous tribes.
As for A. macrocarpa (Benth.) Speg. = Piptadenia macrocarpa Benth, knwon by the
names of cebil, cebil colorado, curupay, kurupá, etc., he writes that Galluppi mentions
that "Semi-roasted seeds of A. macrocarpa are used to make the indian kurupáih or
kurupa (a spell according to Montoya), that, when inhaled in the form of rapé produces
extasis. The Guaraní Indians that prepared the kurupá and own the secret, were called
"kurupadyaras" (probably the name given to the healer).
G.A. Iacobucci and E.A. Ruveda in a chemical study of Argentine Piptadenia species
transferred to other genders, determined in 1963 that A. macrocarpa (P. macrocarpa)
was the richest in alkaloids and in the number of bases present in the different parts of
the plant.
Bufotenine and N-N-dimetiltriptamine were isolated from seeds and sheaths.
In the final Report of the Chaco Exploration Commission, Arturo Seelstrang states:
“Curupay is a beautiful tree. Its bark is commonly used by tanneries and it is very
important for trade with the neighbouring Province of Corrientes. Its wood is very
pretty, red, with black streaks, excellent for furniture. The outer surface of its bark is
characterized by a large number of spiky protruberances, and this is the reason why it
is called curupay, that in guaraní language means 'mangy shell'”
(Seelstrang, Arturo: Informe de la Comisión Exploradora del Chaco, Primera Edición:
Tipografía y litografía del "Courier de la Plata", Buenos Aires 1878; 2a Edic. EUDEBA
1977).
When describing the flora of Gran Chaco, Luis Jorge Fontana makes reference to
cebil or curupay:
“The curupay of the guaraní indians, known by the name of cebil, is abundant
throughout Chaco, both inland and on the banks of the rivers; the tree is very high and
can be easily distinguished by its ruggy bark, a material used for industry; its red wood,
with black streaks, is strong and very appropriate for construction. We have two species
that are distinguished as curupay-ná and curupay-atá and by white and black by the
natives and also in trade." ((Fontana, Luis Jorge: "El Gran Chaco", Ed. Se.)
Boelcke, O.: (1989:158) p/ Anadenanthera colubrina var cebil = Piptadenia
macrocarpa, (cebil colorado) rates this species as one of the most valuable trees in the
North of Argentina, since its wood is very valuable and the bark is rich in tannins.
Ragonese, A.E. y Milano, V.A.: (1984:147) citing Gallupi, 1943, mentions that
"Roasted seeds of A. macrocarpa are used to make the indian kurupáih or kurupa , that,
when inhaled in the form of rapé produces extasis.
Acknowledgements
Botanical Museum of the School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, “Dr. Juan A DOMINGUEZ”
University of Buenos Aires
(herbarium and collections)
Prof. Dr. Alberto Gurni, Director of the Museum and Professor of Botany (who kindly
supervised and contributed documents for this paper)
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