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fyzygy

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Posts posted by fyzygy

  2. Posted · Edited by fyzygy

    De Feo and Capasso (1996, 2002) studied the pharmacological effects on the central nervous system of rats, noting probable psychotropic effects. It has been ascribed to "black magic" practices among traditional healers in Peru (as an adjunct to San Pedro). Scientists have isolated various interesting compounds including novel viroids and isoflavones.  https://booksc.org/s/iresine herbstii

     

    Christian Rätsch reports, in The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: "Various species of this genus are used in South America as ayahuasca additives. Some species, under the name cimora or timora, are added to San Pedro drinks... Iresine species also are said to be the main ingredient or at least one of the main ingredients in the mysterious South American magical drink cimora (Ott 1993, 409*). Unfortunately, chemical studies are lacking. Betacyanin has been detected in the herbage of the Caribbean Iresine herbstii Hook. f. (Wong 1976, 119*)."

     

     

     

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  3. Posted · Edited by fyzygy

    On 28/02/2022 at 6:10 PM, tripsis said:

    Showing anti-tumour and anti-cancer properties in a petri dish only really tells us the compounds in question are cytotoxic; this doesn't necessarily translate to tangible medical benefits if consumed.

    By the same token, showing therapeutic properties in an animal model ... doesn't necessarily translate to tangible medical benefits if consumed by humans.

     

    16 hours ago, tripsis said:

    Traditional doesn't mean safe.

    "Modern" doesn't mean safe either -- as per my previous post. 

     

    16 hours ago, tripsis said:

    An reply which fails to answer the question. 

    What was the question?

     

    If neither safety nor efficacy are the absolute benchmarks for regulatory approval, then the answer must lie elsewhere ... in political economy, and ideology. 

  5. Posted

    Not sure about the faded yellow section -- could just be from excessive sun exposure? The black spots I'd dust with cinnamon as a precaution against pathogens. The yellow/brown bits too, wouldn't hurt any, IMO.*  Exposed wounds in plant tissue can potentially benefit from the application of cinnamon or cassia bark, either powdered or in aqueous solution, as an anti-fungal precaution. I've used it a lot, over more than 5 years, without any ill effects. Fungal infections are easier to prevent, than cure. 

    * Not everyone on this forum shares my high opinion of Cassia spp. as an organic horticultural input. Hence my reluctance to respond to your post more promptly. But since no-one else has chipped in with any advice, I offer this in lieu. 

     

    https://growplants.info/plant-care/cinnamon-for-plants/
    https://luv2garden.com/cinnamon_fungicide.html
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304423818301316
    https://treehozz.com/does-cinnamon-kill-fungus
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15607195/

     

    On 28/02/2022 at 1:41 PM, Boof said:

    Very new to cactus keeping. 

     

    • Like 2

  6. Posted

    Aloe Vera (yellow flower) doesn't have spotted leaves. The orange-flowering Aloe Vera var. chinensis does have spotted leaves, but also a bitter taste. This one doesn't taste bitter (or soapy, like A. maculata, another lookalike). There are a few obscure spotted (maculate) varieties documented, but none of them seem to be the "Japanese Aloe" of urban (YouTube) legend. Aloes have amazing medicinal properties, yes. Just not sure about this non-bitter variety. 

  7. Posted · Edited by fyzygy

    I think many prescription drugs are borderline ineffective too -- not to mention a leading cause of death and disability, alongside "unsafe patient care." Sometimes placebo works wonders, yet science can't explain it. There's a lot of ideology to unpack in the regulation of (angelic) western pharmaceuticals versus (demonic) traditional medicines. Follow the money, I dare say. 

     

  8. Posted

    I don't think he was trying to rip me off. Probably just a tad confused, got labels mixed up, whatever. I bought several other specimens from him, no issues. I think he offered a refund but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, just in case. But yeah, I don't see a trace of bridgesii there either. 

  9. Posted · Edited by fyzygy

    How to conserve Acacia genetics without preserving native habitat, strikes me as a major conundrum. 

    Conceivably, even an endangered Acacia could become an environmental weed, outcompeting endemic species, if carelessly distributed. 

    Hybridisation must also pose some kind of threat -- escalated by the random proliferation of (native and exotic) Acacia spp. in cultivation and beyond.

    "Growing and planting more Acacias" could ultimately prove counter-productive to the goal of Acacia conservation. Unless planted wisely. 

     

  10. Posted

    The orange slime is the one I've encountered most frequently around Melbourne, anywhere a San Pedro has been cut and then left to fend off more than a day or two of heavy rain. In larger specimens it doesn't seem to pose much of a threat, but in smaller cut sections (e.g. root stock) it has a tendency to dominate.

    Overcrowding in the greenhouse will promote plant pathogens. Sun and wind dry out exposed surfaces, helping the plant's natural immunity. But the graft needs high humidity those first few days. After 2 or 3 days under cling film I expose the graft to plenty of (indirect) UV light and ventilation, I don't keep them in a greenhouse. I don't usually apply fungicides to my grafts, though I dare say it wouldn't hurt. 

     

  11. Posted

    "widescale personal and corporate cultivation of the Peyote plant threatens the historical and cultural biological integrity of the plant by potentially exposing the population to hybridization, genetic modification, and sterilization" -- the what now?


    I doubt that ill-defined notions of cultural or biological purity are all that helpful in terms of conservation strategy (whether we're talking about endangered plants or traditional cultural practices). I would have thought that plants, like cultures, and indeed religions, maintain their "integrity" by adapting to changing environmental circumstances, historical contingencies. I'm sure there are far more pressing material threats to peyote's existence than cultivation and propagation of peyote. Is the land itself not sacred? Why peyote rights, but not land rights for Native Americans? Clearing out some ranchers and property developers would surely deliver a maximal boon to wild peyote populations.

     

    Determined poachers will be even more determined, not deterred, by criminalisation. The bounty on peyote buttons will only increase. Outside of the USA, or even within it, how would a ban on peyote cultivation be enforced? 

  12. Posted · Edited by fyzygy

    On 07/10/2021 at 11:42 AM, Flux said:

    I've been told this is more to do with classification/taxonomy confusion than anything; previously being classified in the Banisteriopsis family as B. hereian Ratsch here.. though as Trout points out in Some Simple Tryptamines; "Diplopterys cabrerana (Cuatrecasas) Gates [Misidentified by Morton as Banisteriopsis rusbyana (despite this persistent error, they are not synonyms)"

     

    It does feel quite different to Chacruna as it is said to contain 5-MeO-DMT or at the very least 5-OH-DMT (Bufotenin) in addition to n-n-DMT and is more commonly used as an admixture in the Columbian & Ecuadorian Yagé traditions than in Peruvian ayahuasca traditions.

     

    Yage (also known as yaje, hoasca, ayahuasca, caapi, pinde, or natema) consists of one or more hallucinogenic plants combined, but most importantly Banisteriopsis caapi or B. inebrians (Schultes and Hofman 1980, 1992) (figure 9.7). Other plants commonly added are Psychotria viridis, P. carthagenensis, or B. rusbyana. Banisteriopsis are lianas (thick woody vines) with dark ovate leaves and grow in Brazil, Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. [...] The primary hallucinogenic constituents of B. caapi are the β-carbolines. These include harmaline, tetrahydroharmine, harmol, harmic acid methyl ester, harmic amide, acetyl norharmine, harmine N-oxide, harmalinic acid, and ketotetrahydronorharmine (figure 9.8). B. rusbyana also contains DMT, as well as N-methyltryptamine, 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, and 5-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (bufotenin). N-methyltetrahydro-β-carboline is found in trace amounts.

     

    * I too would like to grow this plant, B. rusbyana. Many websites (including Wikipedia redirects) suggest synonymous with Diplopterys cabrerana. The above source I've quoted -- Marcello Spinella. The Psychopharmacology of Herbal Medicine (MIT Press, 2001) -- doesn't reference Diplopterys spp. at all.

    Which is odd, since Rätsch (1998) points to Gates (1982) as having cleared up the "confusion" regarding names, D. cabrerana being the new name for B. rusbyana.

     

    Like B. caapi "rarely flowers ... commonly propagated by cuttings"

    • Like 1

  15. Posted

    Lespedeza bicolor Turcz.

    Bicolor Lespedeza 

     

    Geographical distribution Asia: China; India; Japan; Taiwan Europe: Great Britain 

    Descriptors Herb, shrub; perennial; not climbing; not threatened 

    Botanical sources I.W.S. (1992) ildis; R.M.P. (1993) 

    Taxonomy Ohashi, H. & Tateishi, Y.
    Uses Environmental


    Carbohydrates

    D-Pinitol (leaf [1]) 

     

    Flavonoids

    Isoorientin (unspecified parts [2]) 

    Isoquercitrin (unspecified parts [2]) 

    Kaempferol (unspecified parts [2]) 

    Orientin (unspecified parts [2]) 

    Quercetin (unspecified parts [2]) 

    Trifolin (unspecified parts [2]) 

     

    Amino acids and peptides 

    Canavanine; (S)-form (seed [3], unspecified parts [4]) 

     

    Alkaloids

    Bufotenine (leaf, root bark [5]) 

    N,N-Dimethyltryptamine N-oxide (root bark [5]) 

    N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (leaf [5,6], root bark [5]) 

    Lespedamine (leaf [5,6], root bark [5]) 

    O-Methylbufotenine N-oxide (root bark [5]) 

    O-Methylbufotenine (root bark [5]) 

     

    Chemical citations
    1. Plouvier, V. (1949) Compt. Rend. 228: 859-861
    2. Glyzin, V.I.     et al. (1970) Khim. Prir. Soedin. 6: 473-474; CA 74: 10347k
    3. Tschiersch, B. (1961)     Flora 150: 87-94
    4. Bell, E.A.     et al. (1978) Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 6: 201-212
    5. Morimoto, H. and Matsumoto, N. (1966)     Justus Liebigs Ann. Chem. 692: 194-199
    6. Morimoto, H. and Oshio, H. (1965)     Justus Liebigs Ann. Chem. 682: 212-218 

     

    ---

    Source: Phytochemical Dictionary of the Leguminosae (CRC Press, 1994: 396)

     

  19. Posted

    Recently I discarded some expired Vitamin B tablets -- into my compost bin. No problems there, I don't think, only now I wish I'd given them to my plants directly. While researching this topic, came across the following article, "Proven and potential involvement of vitamins in interactions of plants with plant growth-promoting bacteria—an overview" (2014). 

    https://booksc.org/book/23177070/b1252a.

     

    It's ... a start. 

  20. Posted

    I don't think it's just vitamins and minerals, but also plant hormones and the like in coconut water that are said to be beneficial to plants. I seem to recall having read that fresh coconut water is more biologically active than processed (to the extent that, the bottled stuff isn't worth worrying about in the garden). That said, I do occasionally add trace amounts to my plants (when rinsing a coconut-water carton, for example). And why not? 

     

    Dare I even mention ... coconut also contains fungicidal properties?

  21. Posted · Edited by fyzygy

    1 hour ago, Funology said:

    So if the TGA can approve and regulate the price

     

    I don't think the TGA regulates pricing, just advertising that includes pricing information ... It stands to reason that any TGA-approved product will come with the additional expense of registration/approval, a process more amenable to larger enterprises than smaller operations, resulting in products that cater to the higher end of the healthcare market. The more restricted the competition, the greater the premium attached to TGA-approved products, presumably. 

     

    TGA website currently lists 20 products containing various combinations of: Cordyceps sinensis, Ganoderma lucidum, Lentinula edodes, Trametes versicolor, Tremella fuciformis, Wolfiporia cocos, Grifola frondosa, Polyporus umbellatus. BUT it is not clear that these are currently registered products. Cordyceps sinensis and Ganoderma lucidum are both effectively blacklisted by recent FSANZ guidelines, views of the committee recorded here:

     

    https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/industry/novel/novelrecs/Documents/Record_of_views_updated_March_2021.pdf

     

    At some point the functions of these two regulatory bodies (TGA and FSANZ) must intersect and overlap. 

     

  23. Posted · Edited by fyzygy

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Geopolitical context. The import backflip comes after two Pacific nations established diplomatic ties with China ...

     

     

     

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-17/kava-imports-pacific-fiji-australia-explainer/11607384

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Deforestation. Richard Markham, a cocoa grower in Fiji and adjunct professor in sustainable development at the University of the Sunshine Coast, said he was worried a kava boom could worsen environmental concerns in an already troubled industry. "The price goes up, then people are looking for bigger tracts of land, and that's when they're going out and clearing rain forests, particularly in search of fertile soil—the kava needs fertile soil, and the easiest way to arrange for that is to burn some forests, which releases the nutrients and you get a decent crop of kava." Those concerns are also being raised in Vanuatu, where the opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu said new kava plantations are the leading cause of deforestation. https://www.abc.net.au/radio-australia/programs/pacificbeat/kava-farmers-exports-concerns/13727246

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Psychosocial activity. Counteracting perceptions of kava's "mind dulling effects" https://www.abc.net.au/radio/sydney/programs/afternoons/kava/13747 and public health concerns:  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-09/first-shipments-of-kava-arrive-in-australia/13747238

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Just a few of the angles to this story being covered, piecemeal, by the ABC. 

     

     

  24. Posted

    I've read up on how to use (apple cider) vinegar as an alcohol substitute, pros and cons: https://www.thespruceeats.com/avoid-alcohol-and-make-vinegar-tinctures-1762274

    Increased prep time, reduced shelf life and potency appear to be the only drawbacks. But I do wonder: which plants might be best suited to this method of herbal medicine production. 

     

    Anyone with experience or insights to share?

  25. Posted

    I don't know the variety, but it's non-bitter, and strongly resembles one being sold online as (edible) "Japanese aloe" ... could just as well be some form of hybrid as a particular maculate species.

    The gel it produces is on the watery side, lacking the soapiness or bitterness of my other spotted varieties, A. maculata (soap aloe) and A. chinensis. I've eaten this one in small quantities only, without adverse effects. I have read that numerous "maculate" Aloes are used in traditional African healing, but few details were disclosed. This plant's lack of bitterness suggests limited medicinal value. Fresh young leaves are essentially palatable, skin and all. None of Aloe vera's exudate or latex in evidence. 

     

    Makes a pretty stunning house plant IMO. 

     

    Free offsets if you can cover the cost of postage. Mostly a bit smaller than the ones pictured, some a bit larger. 

     

    Trades also welcome (seeds of edible and medicinal plants, etc.).

     

    Send a message if you'd like to add this to your garden. Post below if you can help ID this variety. 

    IMG_0374.jpg

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    IMG_0374.thumb.jpg.dfeac472758161419692681f6bcf8ae7.jpg

    • Like 2
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