MORG

I ended up just cutting off the petals and stamens and discarding the hearts. The flowers I collected were of varying ages. 10 flowers were steeped per bottle. 3 friends and myself had 2 bottles between us along with much more booze We also shared a dried lotus joint. The effect is subtle but nice. I'll include the hearts next time and focus on collecting young flowers. I also collected and dried some Pink Lotus (N. nucifera). Any ideas as to difference in effect or potency (opposed to N. caerulea)? Loved the description of the lotus life cycle, Rev

Hi all, I've been reading various online sources and it seems there's a number of nausea complaints from people associated with consumption of Morning Glory (I. violacea) and more often Hawaiian Baby Wood Rose (A. nervosa). (This is of course illegal in Australia). It appears to me that most of these cases occur after chewing and swallowing the seeds. Methods of ingestion with lemon/lime juice and water are purported to have fewer of these side effects. Then there is the polar/nonpolar solvent method I've read about in many places but seen very few reports from people who have tried it. Which method would provide the cleanest results and fewer side effects for those that are interested in consuming these seeds (where legal)? It seems to me that the solvent method looks like having the greatest chance at removing nasties. Additionally, being dissolved in alcohol the dose would be easier to mediate by having more immediate effects. What do people think?

Yeah, I understand. I suppose I'm just trying to look at pros and cons of all these methods and folklore that seem to surround the process. Trying to come to a hypothetical best practise.

March 4th is the Mardi Gras parade too so the city will be jumping for anyone wanting to get out on the the town after.

I'm in agreeance with Torsten. If we didn't need to hold on to religion we'd have a lot less to argue about and a lot less killing would get done. I never heard of atheists getting narky and violent because someone proscribed to a different view of reality. Really, this just seems like someone getting upset about a 'Yo Mama...' joke. The reaction is there because it's convention to take slander on one's religion very personally. My two cents.

So it seems there's no sure way to ensure against nausea. So the only pros going for polar/nonpolar solvent extraction would be dose mediation and easy ingestion, i.e. not having to chow down raw seeds. I suppose the drawbacks would be overall loss of product and the work you need to put in.

Ok, this is where I get tacky. Does anyone know of sources for Mimosa pudica seed (sensitive plant)? I'm a real sucker for a kitch herbivory defense and have been enamoured with this plant for some time. Morg.

Fair enough too. I looked up N. gracilis on PlantNet. Native and without spikes, it's much nicer than M. pudica I'd never heard of this one before. Looks like it should grow in Sydney too.

Hi all, I'm very new to this, it's my first post. I've been on the trail for Morning Glory for quite some time now (abour 5 years since first reading up on the plants) but always run into snags. I was wondering if you people would be able to help me out. - First of all, (no beating around the bush) can anyone give me details of where I might be able to buy some seeds? - Regarding cultivation. Does I. violacea have the same vigorous growth as some of the other species of the genus that are pests here (I'm thinking I. purpurea)? How long after germination could I expect the plant to set seed? Also, does the species flower all year round or seasonally? - I've noticed that most extraction methods require a polar solvent and often suggest petroleum ether. In the absence of this one could use chloroform to achieve the same result, right? Of course, you'd probably want to let it evaporate for extra long (b.p. ~60oC) and perhaps heat it a little to avoid incidental exposure. I'd love any information regarding these queries. I'm very impressed by the quality of the forum and haven't been able to stop trawling the great info here since I found the damn thing last night! Morg

Does anyone know of a source for a good key to species for the genus Ipomoea? I'll have a dig around and try to find something. Just thought I'd see if anyone's done the work for me :D

Whatever the seeds look like, you should be able to diagnose species fairly simply from the adult plant though. Right?

Thank very much for the offer Hebrew! I'm surprised a simple water and lemon juice mix does anything. That's interesting to know. Thanks for the links there. That post for newbies is a good one. Cheers Morg.