MORG

I'm interested to hear of anyone's experience with Vipassana meditation. I have been thinking recently about going on one of the retreats and learn these techniques. I'm primarily motivated by the opportunity to learn a new way to use my brain and to explore an altered (right word?) state of being. Who knows, I might even get some practical benefit like increased focus or concentration. I'm attracted to Vipassana because of its non-ideological nature. I'm slightly intimidated by the ten-day retreat though. Has anyone done these retreats? If so, where abouts did you do them? What was your experience? Would you recommend? http://www.dhamma.org.au/

This just came up on the EGA Facebook page. Someone has found 50-60 ringbarked mature A. obtusifolia in a NSW national park. Link below, click through for pictures. Absolutely deplorable behaviour. Events like this WILL have a profound negative impact on the local environment. If the person who did this is reading this, I urge you first to slap yourself. Ringbarking all the mature trees in an area is effective local extermination of a species. The genetic and seed resource of these trees will not be replaced. How do we stop it? Perhaps Atlas of Living Australia needs to have restricted access to information on "sensitive" species? We can't set up cameras on every stand of Acacia. http://the-nexian.me/home/knowledge/131-when-dmt-equals-killing-the-environment When DMT Equals Killing the Environment "What I saw yesterday has left me sickened and shocked. I took the Nexian, Spice Sailor, to see a very special and pristine nature reserve in a national park where there were large mother seed trees of Acacia obtusifolia. We went simply to enjoy the presence of the trees and the bush. This was a sacred site, too sensitive to touch, I would have thought. To our dismay, every single mature tree was either dead or dying. They had been completely stripped of bark, or had so much taken that they could no longer live. Every one of them was bare—maybe 50-60 trees—except for some very small saplings not yet ready to produce seed. At the rate these trees grow in the wild, they would have been between 20-50 years old. A few were older. I understand that there are greedy and ignorant people out there, but this is the worst case I have ever seen. If the perpetrator(s) were ignorant, then let me say yet again that taking bark kills trees! Then it is another 15-20 years before other trees grow to such a large size. As stated several times, the small twigs have the same percent alkaloid content as the bark. There is no need to cause long term harm or kill these trees. As I've said, if you're growing trees, you realize that killing them for trunk bark is wasteful and stupid…you can prune a branch. Please stop and think about what you’re doing. Nature reserves are there to protect the plants! If the people who did this acted out of greed, then they have stupidly destroyed what was a tremendous sustainable supply. The amount of bark taken indicates very large-scale dealing. Please, if you care about the future of these trees and the environment in general, don't support the sale of DMT; you are inadvertently supporting this kind of environmental carnage. The people who do this are as callous as mining companies and have no qualms about harming the environment. These trees were part of the ecosystem; providing shelter for numerous birds and other creatures, and maintaining the soil. More than just the trees are harmed by this thoughtless act. Even worse, all of the seed-producing trees in this area are now gone. How will this arboreal community ever repopulate normally? This once pristine area will now be severely affected for decades. A place where the acacia naturally thrived is now unlikely to do so for a long time. If a bush fire takes out the saplings, these trees may never come back. Seeing this devastation makes me wish that I'd never been involved in efforts to spread knowledge about acacias, in case my doing so increased the likelihood of this happening. If trying to increase awareness of psychoactive plants leads to this, it isn't worth it. When we first started exploring acacias, we took time to describe the potential damage to these species presented by harvesting bark, and to insist that increasing species diversity as well as growing new trees and harvesting sustainably were crucial. But to what avail? So savage was the destruction I saw, I have to put it down to more than ignorance. It's a level of greed approaching evil. There are such people in this world who have no issues wreaking such environmental havoc. We see them in a myriad of forms around the world; the extractive energy companies, the industrial production and refinement facilities, the drug cartels in Mexico or elsewhere. The main ways to stop them are to not support their trade and to disrupt their ability to act with impunity. Share the knowledge of what is going on and find ways to take action to prevent the atrocities with which they are so comfortable. So, Australians (and anyone else) reading this, the situation is now serious for this acacia, and it is the direct result of the selling and buying of DMT. I doubt the people who do this even take the substance much. The Nexus has lots of information on sustainable and easy to find sources of DMT, strains of Phalaris for instance, as well as great examples of growing acacias. Use them! Other than trying to increase awareness of this sorry situation, which shames the Australian entheogen community, the other action I'll take is to inform the national parks authority about what is going on in that particular area (in NSW) so they can monitor it more closely. If anyone else has any other ideas, we would like to hear about them. And if there is more of this horror going on elsewhere, please speak up and let us know. I can't believe that in 20 years I've watched beautiful pristine areas turn into graveyards due to people looking for a molecule that is meant to expand their consciousness! It's a crime against nature. If anyone reading this has any idea of who did this, please try to educate them as to the harm they've caused—not just to the environment, but to their own future options. These are dark days for DMT, indeed, when DMT means death and habitat destruction. For those growing the trees; thank you deeply. This work goes hand in hand with utilizing the compounds they provide. One more time, for the ignorant: don't take trunk bark. It will kill the tree and—in the case of A. obtusifolia—they are not fast growing in the wild. It’s so sad that I have to have to say this again. I thought we were getting somewhere."

Does anyone have some rooted and supple pereskiopsis? None of that old woody stuff. Looking +/- 6 plants. I've got some bebeh cacti that could do with a graft. We can talk cash or trade.

Earlier this year I took a chance and posted some dry leaf specimens to myself from overseas. Quarantine intercepted the package, deemed it an unacceptable biosafety risk and destroyed it. I received a polite but firm letter from them breaking the sad news. Fast forward 3 months and I get a call from Fedex. They want to know what's in a package addressed to me (same receiving address as used for the above case), from the USA, contents undeclared and value declared as $1. I'm expecting some documents and a journal and I told them as much. They seemed satisified, told me they'd write this on the description then allow it through to customs. This sounded somewhat peculiar that they'd take the precaution in this instance for a single package... which makes me wonder, did my previous transgression put me on a quarantine naughty list? Does this sound realistic or paranoid? Some of you must have had plant material intercepted before, perhaps you've had a similar experience?

Reflecting light most strongly in the wavelength range 450-490nm

Open-access special issue of The Psychologist on hallucinogens, science and society. http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive/archive_home.cfm?volumeID=27&editionID=303

Just to be clear, I haven't attempted to import anything illegal. The seizure was a collection of dried leaf samples for DNA vouchers. The parcel I'm expecting was from a publisher. I'm not concerned about customs, rather that my previous seizure may have created a flag. If others have been sprung for importing seeds etc and continued to receive things then that suggests that I'm being paranoid.

The amendment bill is here: http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/nswbills.nsf/0/380e2bd2df6e05aeca257be2001dfa34/$FILE/b2013-113-d14-House.pdf From page 6: "36ZG Prohibition of advertising of psychoactive substances A person is guilty of an offence if the person publishes or displays in any manner, way, medium or form any advertisement: (a) knowing or being reckless as to whether the advertisement promotes, or apparently promotes, directly or indirectly, the consumption, supply or sale of a substance for its psychoactive effects, and ( providing information on how or where the psychoactive substance may be acquired. Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both." The definition of advertising seems so broad as to outlaw internet discussion on Acacia localities.

Does anyone here know if Parks knows what's going on? If not, and if this is becoming an issue, then maybe its time to fill them in. A couple of cameras (one recording licence plates) and a well-worded sign ought to dissuade most of the morons.

Joe Rogan's podcast with Rock Doblin is worth a listen. Very thoughtful, nice insight into Doblin's history and perspective. http://jredatabase.com/2013/07/01/371-rick-doblin/

Who's MORG? Nice find on the Corybas, Horizon. Love these little dank forest floor denizens. All of those three you posted images of are ostensibly pollinated by fungus gnats. The basis of pollinator attraction is still not understood though. I think there are probably exciting tales of mimicry and evolution in fungus gnat pollination, but the biology of gnats and their role in ecosystems is still poorly known. I don't know if you know this, but the labellum of Pterostylis nutans retracts at touch. Underneath the "hood" you'll see the curved "tongue". If you take a thin stick and touch it to the tongue it will spring quickly up. When done to a gnat this forces the insect against the reproductive parts of the plant as it exits the flower.

South Africa really is an ethnobotanical hotspot. The country has a floral biodiversity rivalling Australia and rich, deep and widespread traditions of plant use in all realms of life. As a visitor here in the Zulu heartland for the last couple of months I have only been exposed to the Zulu and Basotho side of the story (and not very deeply at that), but plant-use for ritual, health and religion are a firmly ingrained part of life here. There are muthi markets in town selling all manner of concoctions, dried herbals and remedies spanning uses from digestive ailments to child birth to lifting curses. Field guides to the local flora include local names with traditional uses for plants (including things like 'charm to ward off lightning'). The botany conference has enough ethnobotany to fill a couple of days of talks and the students and academics come from a couple of the best ethnobotany and phytochemistry labs in the world. If you want to study ethnobotany its a country you should seriously consider working in. I have seen swathes of Silene capensis and dense pockets of Leonotis leonurus in the grasslands here. A photo of the latter in its natural habitat is embedded below. Unfortunately I just missed peak flowering, so while my photo shows only one plant, there were plenty more carrying the remnants of flowers just finished. It was nice to see it at home. The arid areas I've yet to explore, but seeing Sceletium, Hoodia and in their native habitat would be a thrill. I'm not sure on the details, but there are some here with a "traditional healers licence" who advertise online for ayahuasca sessions and there are a couple of aya retreats. This community seems small and reclusive however. Iboga is legal; there are clinics administering treatments, and it doesn't have far to travel from Cameroon/Gabon. If you ever make it over here, make some time for plant tourism.

Fuckdamn. I'm drunk, frustrated and was well ready to give you a fucking serve.

Including hybrids in the sample is going to throw out a nuclear DNA analysis as much as it does a chloroplast analysis... unless you've got both. Good molecular taxonomy should avoid including any samples of potential hybrid origin. If this is achieved then chloroplast DNA reflects pure maternal lineages within species. So the rigour of this study all comes down to what's represented in the sample.

The other method for those keen on orchid culture but without myc cultures is ex situ seed baiting. Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14635769 Take top soil from around adult orchid. Seive. Keep coarse bits/organic matter. Sow orchid seed onto filter and place on wet soil. Seal in container in the dark and wait. This only works for terrestrials of course.

Thanks for the paper Anodyne! I have heard of some Amazon orchids promoting the same result in bee pollinators. I wonder if we will ever be able to establish a biochemical case for these narcotics being an insect "reward" in and of themselves. Interesting.

Most orchid myc are so poorly known. If you can find a media on which it grows properly then go for it. I don't think you can overpower the seed. The more the better. Most of the biomass of a very early seedling is actually sequestered fungal pelotons. I do know however that some species will grow asymbiotically. I only know of one way to get myc cultures: from the orchids themselves.

Orchid seed sterilization is not too tricky. Wash once with 1% Sodium hypochlorite, then 4 times with sterile water. The hard part is symbiotic germination with mycorrhiza! I wonder how often these cases of inebriated pollinating insects are due not to any nectar physiology but natural yeasts fermenting the nectar crop. Anyone know anything about alcohol metabolism in hymenopterans???

I'd love just one of these articles to hit closer to the mark: "DMT, or dimethyltryptamine, is typically sold as a brown powder and causes trancendance of the self, hallucinations, an inability to concentrate, fear, humbling awe and perceptions of colour and truth more visceral than consensus reality."

Penny was the first member of this forum that I met in person. She gave me my first plants, one of which I still own. She impressed me as an extraordinarily warm, open and accepting person. I didn't spend a lot of hours in her company, but she made every one of them a great conversation and connection. She was also a keen inquirer and student and I hope a small part of her has been satisfied with an answer now. My thoughts and love are with her daughter and family now.

Agreed with Jabez. Further, if you seasonally incorporate habitual or compulsive behaviours into your life (such as scanning wet garden beds), then these second-nature behaviours will naturally carry over into dreams. It is actually one technique designed to enhance your chances of lucid dreaming. Every time you look for fungi, ask yourself if you are dreaming. Sooner or later the answer will be yes. I've had fungi dreams. But not for a couple of seasons now.

Ok. So no one's interested in a P. eryngii plate. Can make it a VVVVVVVVV Koh Samui (microscopy only) VVVVVVVVVVV

Listened to this for the first time today because Sam Harris was on it. Really good actually, but I'm an unashamed Sam Harris fan. And Rogan was better than I had him pegged initially. Now I don't know if he's the thinking jock's man, or the thinking man's jock. In the interests of Sam Harris evangelism, a link: http://blog.joerogan.net/archives/4463

I highly recommend Fuhrer, if not just for the beautiful pictures. I find the best approach is to own every field guide you can. None of them are close to comprehensive so the best strategy is to get as many as possible and cross reference. Other authors in my library include I.R. McCann, Tony Young and Fungimap. It's not a bad idea getting a field guide to Europe or North America. Their references are in general much more complete, easier to use and better to learn the basics from. Add to that many species (and a great many genera) have cosmopolitan ranges which makes o/s field guides another useful book to have lying around. Edit: As far as O/S guides go, this is one of, if not the best: http://booko.com.au/products/9780898151695 'Mushrooms Demystified' by D. Arora. Taxonomy is a bit out of date now, but still a very good book.

He's vivid proof that DMT doesn't necessarily lead to any more enlightenment than a UFC punch to the head.