Torsten

It is made primarily from PVC, but at the temperatures this operates at (well below room temp), and the speed of the extraction, there will be no exudate. I have been told that there are plans for a S/S version later in the year.

My attraction to daturas and Brugmansias is almost exclusively due to their beauty. I have this thing about funnel/trumpet shaped flowers.

I have no confirmation of activity, but at this point I treat all Cereus derived genera as candidates. I recently talked to a cactus specialist who also has an interest in the psychoactivity and he told me that almost all members of the *cereus group he has tried were active. he seemed to think that regional variations are more to blame for non-activity than actual genus specification. This was a pretty sweeping statement, but as he is such an authority in the filed it should certainly not be dismissed. K.Trouts recent musings on waterstress as a major factor of activity would also support this theory somewhat. The Myrtillocactus is an excellent grafting stock!!

I don't actually know what the butter is used for, but I presume it finds some use in food prep. Insofar I can't see any problem with having the fat in the mix with the essential oil. It makes things a lot more dangerous though, as you can't judge the actual essentail oil content in the mix. I think buying/importing a small amount of mutmeg oil will be a lot cheaper than extracting it from the nuts.

It definitely won't flower till the second year. It doesn't have quite the same requirements as MG, and will actually require quite a bit of water to form its seeds properly.

There has been at least one case in NSW where someone was prosecuted for preparation of peyote. I don't know how far this preparation went, but apparently harvesting it and letting it sit around can be enough if there is written material around the house on how to ingest it. It's all a matter of prooving intent. as I mentioned in my post in the cactus forum, I could not allow any instructions for extractions to be posted.

I am still looking for a reliable and cheap supply of a whole range of datura and brugmansia species. Obviously I would like to offer them all ;-) If anyone knows of a cheap bulk source, please let me know. I have problems groing many datura in the subtropics, as they really don't like the humidity.

Live plant material can harbour all sorts of pathogens they would like to keep out of NZ. This is why they allow most seed, but really frown upon soil contamination and live material. I haven't finished sorting out the details of a NZ distribution, but when I do I will pst it here and will contact all nZ customers (as far as I know them) by e-mail. /applications/core/interface/imageproxy/imageproxy.php?img=http://www.shaman-australis.com/ubb/cool.gif&key=ca3ca36d41137257390f767e3267e3d8192323df13c11b941dbee9e49e17f931

Theoretically it would work for nutmeg, but it would also extract all the fats. Nutmeg contains large amounts of nutmeg butter and this woul elute the same way as the essential oil.

Index plantarum means the list of plants in a collection. Index seminum is the list of seeds in a collection. The index seminum on the site is fairly up to date, but the index plantarum hasn't been updated for a couple of years. Which source codes, what key, and what do you need them for ??

Basically identical to the Hawaiian baby Woodrose or any other of the Argyreias. There is a picture on the site under Argyreia nervosa.

The guy who makes them has given me a demo of how it works and it is really quite amazing. I will be trying it for essential oil extraction soon, as there may be a potential for it.

Forget the seeds!! They have a very low viability and are VERY expensive. Salvia is already in NZ and I am trying to organise a service for NZ customers to obtain cuttings within NZ without having to worry about MAF. I have been in contact with MAF and they are very glad about this, as the import of these cuttings is really worrying them. How this service will work is still a little unclear, but with a little patience it will all work out.

Actually there are similarities between LSD and iboga treatment. Both are complex indoles that act on the serotonergic system. These changes in neurotransmitter levels and the 're-wiring' of the brain hav been highly successful inntreating all sorts of addictions. Albert Hofman was doing a lot of research in Spain a few years ago with using LSD to treat alcoholism. Success rates at 12 months were in excess of 50%!!! I believe that this treat ment is also available in Switzerland (or at least it was a few years ago). To attribute this purely to psychological effects would be a little hasty.

I will put up a page on australian erythroxyum species in the next week or so as there have been so many enquiries. Geoff knows that I was looking for this seed, but I haven't been able to contact him by e-mail for several weeks. They just keep bouncing back to me. I will give him a ring.

I guess the water deprivation may help, but how can you eliminate the rain?? At least one of the australian weed ipomoeas is active, but not in the way we might hope. It works wonders as a laxative ;-)

I guess the water deprivation may help, but how can you eliminate the rain?? At leats one of the australian weed ipomoeas is active, but not in the way we might hope. It works wonders as a laxative ;-)

Actually, we currently have about 400 species of interest and will add them to the list as time and space permits (slowly!!). we will however update the index plantarum pretty soon, so that everyone can check out what we are trying to propagate. Some of them may even be available on request.

I think the sheer quantity would preclude this method.

I have not been able to track down Galbulimia. Calamus, Tabernaemontana orientalis, Pituri, Corkwood, and many acacias are available. Areca catechu, Kava, will be available soon Galangal is available at your supermarket. BTW, many of these plants are intrduced and hex has left out many interesting natives. Was there any one in particular you were after??

Morning glories don't seed if there is plenty of water. This is a problem in your climate, as the rain starts as the seed is supposed to mature. The local introduced Morning glories don't have that problem and are much more succesful weeds. El nino years are your best bet ;-)

You will find that meteloidine is actually closely related to the Brugmansia alkaloids (tropanes) and bears little resemblence to cocaine. It is also inactive in humans. the otehr secies up north look a lot more interesting. If you check out their chemistry you will find that one of them contains a molecule virtually identical to cocaine, except that the linking chain is one carbon longer. This species also has a history of use as an expectorant. My experiment with australe wasn't all that toxic as I may have alluded to. after chewing the leaves for a couple of minutes my throat constricted quite severely. My osoephagus became cramped and this feeling lasted for 30 minutes. there was no stimulation, numbness or any other effect. Quite unspectacular but a little scary as the contriction was unpredictable. The shrub is so incredibly inconspicuous, that I don't think I would ever notice it even if I stood right in front of it. The berries might be the only give away, but I've never seen this species fruit.

What's the info?? I have pics and have also regrettably tried the leaves. Don't do it!! I will write a webpage for this species in the next couple of months. I can't sell it even if I could propagate it and my last cutting died a few months ago, but the info is requested so frequently and there is so much misinformation out there I feel the need to set this straight.

That circle is VERY small. I know of a couple of people who have it and aren't willing to part with it just yet. I am sure it will take another year or so to hit the tading market.

It is now generally accepted that the material is only active when fresh. A couple of my customers have tried the dried material and had no luck.