devance Posted October 1, 2004 http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:p-TR8..._2004_Trout.pdf http://www.bulbsociety.com/GALLERY_OF_THE_...rarialist.shtml Ferraria glutinosa (Bak.) Rendle [iRIDACEAE] roots aresaid to have been used by the !Kung of the Kalahari tohelp enter an altered state of consciousness in trance dances.It is believed to help activate ‘num’ (the energy whichoriginates from the gods) when used in conjunction witha complex proces of purification, diet & ritual. This maystill be used by some but at least one group has apparentlylost the knowledge of preparation and dosages in recentyears when such information failed to be passed on bytheir elders. See Richard KATZ1982. See also DOBKINDERIOS1986 and WINKELMAN& DOBKINDERIOS1989.“gwa” is a root I do not know an identity for. It isused by the !Kung of the Kalahari to help induce ‘kia’;an altered state of consciousness considered to be aprerequisite for healing practices. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
devance Posted October 6, 2004 Ferraria crispa Burm. subsp. crispa Apparently is now a invasive weed in Western Australia. Bulb - Freesia alba x leichtlinii also known as Freesia x hybrida in Australia - Large numbers of hybrid freesias are found in dense infestations in Kings Park, they love the poor sandy soils of the coastal plain - http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/browse/flo...evel=s&id=11445 http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/browse/flo...level=s&id=1515 http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/search/qui...raria++&x=6&y=7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted October 7, 2004 OK So how did we jump from Ferraria to Freesia? If its freesias you want - Belair, SA is infested Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
occidentalis Posted October 7, 2004 devance: Large numbers of hybrid freesias are found in dense infestations in Kings Park, they love the poor sandy soils of the coastal plain Nice work - are they a problem in California too?They're everywhere in our bushland; I've spent days pulling them out. Because they have a fairly weak attachment to the bulb it's hard to get it all out without too much soil disturbance. And still my mum plants them in her garden. Ferraria is also a problem - it's fairly resistant to herbicides because of it's waxy succulent leaves. It uses flies as pollen vectors and smells like rotting meat. The bulbs are also very difficult to get out. It'd be nice if they were active although I don't know if I could get past the smell. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted October 7, 2004 If its succulent stem yet waxy what about a hypodermic delivered 'spiker' applicator for a systemic herbiced that travels down and kills the bulb? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
occidentalis Posted October 7, 2004 Yeah, that would work, or just a syringe with a big fat needle. Glyphosate would probably do the trick. We used to drop a few drops of glyph into the cavities where the leaf blades come out from the stem and that worked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
devance Posted October 7, 2004 I accidentally included the Freesia in the post. Freesia don't do anything I know of and isn't common in the U.S. I would have pointed it out myself but didn't want to clutter the post up until someone mentioned it. I can't change my posts once posted because of some sort of browser firewall problem I think. The Ferraria is very rare in the U.S. and I won't get to try Ferraria crispa for 6 months, as the shipment time for bulbs is past and it takes more months to grow a usable amount. So I thought Australians might want to give it a sooner try once I found out it was growing like a weed there, much to my surprise. The Ferraria are such a small number of bulbs and look about the same I thought it would be a good bet that they all would be some degree be active. Be great if something as exotic flowered as them had beneficial/interesting roots. When it comes to obscure ethnobotanical citations though, somethings usually is going on, but it could be anything. I was going to try a low dose tea first and work my way up to a smoke. Such is the exciting world of experimental ethnobotany, one needs a good measure of luck for things to pan out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted October 7, 2004 creach: Yeah, that would work, or just a syringe with a big fat needle. . I have those - the big fat heavy duty long reusable needles that go with the glass syringes.just as a side if you have a new garden infested with oxalis i was told by an old guy you round up it when its flowering and its most effective at sucking the poison back down to do in the bulblets Ive seen people try and sheet mulch it but it invariably gets through. I think roundup before you start and then sheet mulching is the only option to beat it. So are they (Ferreria) active growers in spring/summer i wouldnt mind digging a few up as specimen plants not much sandy soil over limetone here! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
G Dawg Posted October 16, 2004 they are dormant during middle to late summer and grow winter/spring Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
devance Posted October 28, 2004 http://www.mrc.ac.za/Tramed3/Tramed3PlantT...1314&codeID=994 Indication trance, induce Symptom coma System GENERAL AND UNSPECIFIED Plant Part unspecified Preparation unspecified Administration Unspecified Dose Harvest unspecified For Whom San Patient Type unspecified Location South Africa (Northern Cape) I got this from the S.African Traditional Medicine Data Base. Not too informative. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
