Banisteriopsis caapi

Banisteriopsis caapi, also known as Ayahuasca, Caapi or Yage, is a South American jungle vine of the family Malpighiaceae. It is used to prepare Ayahuasca, a decoction that has a long history of entheogenic uses -- as a medicine and "plant teacher" -- among the indigenous peoples of the Amazon. It contains beta-carbolines such as harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine.

According to The CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names by Umberto Quattrocchi, the naming of B. caapi was actually dedicated to John Banister, a seventeenth century English clergyman and scientist.

An earlier name for the genus Banisteriopsis was Banisteria, and the plant is frequently referred to as Banisteria caapi in everyday usage.

The name Ayahuasca means "vine of the soul", and the shamans of the indigenous Western Amazonian tribes use the plant in religious and healing ceremonies. It has been the subject of a dispute between US entrepreneur Loren Miller and the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA). In 1986 Miller obtained a US patent on a variety of B. caapi. COICA successfully argued that the patent was invalid because Miller's variety was neither new nor distinct, and the patent was overturned in 1999; however in 2001 the US Patent Office has since reinstated the patent because, at the time it was granted, the law did not allow a third party such as COICA standing to object. B. caapi is now being cultivated commercially in Hawaii.

In addition to its hallucinogenic properties, Caapi is used for its properties as a purgative, effectively cleansing the body of parasites and helping the digestive tract.

See also

• Ayahuasca

External link

• Report on indigenous use of the plant, and the patent dispute