dionysus

i'm not sure what one could legally use as a creativity booster, i guess there are a few variables including what you think to be creative. i have done a bit of reading about the effect mescaline/lsd etc has on this and some time ago came across this study that documents the transition from standard to obscure and back to standard drawing styles in an artist/test subject under the influence of lsd: http://www.cowboybooks.com.au/html/acidtrip1.html . im not sure the validity of this, but assuming it to be real it is a clear indication that creativity may at least be altered by such plants as HBWR.

if you want to learn to grow mushrooms i would suggest obtaining a copy of 'let's grow mushroms', an instructional dvd made RogerRabbit (a member from a different forum) a while back. this covers a lot of cloning techniques and substrate options and would likely help you get some nice fruits in the future.

hi everyone, i have quite a large iochroma 'plum beauty' in my yard that i really like and may be gotten rid of by the land owners soon in order to maintain the property. because of this, i have taken some cuttings and am doing my best to keep the genetics in my possession now but have one question, how moist should i keep the soil they are in to promote rooting? i really don't want them to rot or not root from dryness so any help would be aprecciated. also, once they have rooted and are doing well i would be happy to trade some of them if people are interested. thanks

thanks for the help ph! the 'mother' plant its self is in perfect health, it is to be removed so that a larger shed/new fences etc can be built by the owner of the property, hence my interest in propagating it as i see this as the only way to save the genetics. sadly the same micro climate (sort of between a wall and a fence, getting noon full light and morning/afternoon partial shade) that seems to have allowed it to grow so large is the reason it may be cut down as vehicles will apparently need access. i have taken several small stem cuttings this morning to add to the green branch cuttings i had taken and added some of the soil from around the base of the tree to the pots in case you were suggesting some sort of symbiotic bacterium being present and also put under half soft drink bottles as well (where they weren't previously), hopefully soon i will have some good results. cheers

number three looks very much like azureocereus/browningia hertlingianus. i own several of these, the pattern of new growth is very telling. my avatar demonstrates this. it should get some nice fat spines with age.

i don't think a word exists that can properly describe my envy! awesome collection bit, thanks for sharing

some people i know can't seem to tell the difference between a migrant and a refugee, spewing slogans like 'those unskilled migrants, coming here to take our doll' completely missing that the majority of migrants come here highly skilled to take jobs that the same ignorant crowd that abuses them will never be skilled enough to take. even most (if not all) of the refugees i have met have been working, studying and supporting the australian economy/social structure far more than a lot of australian bred people i come across. 'white australians' are often aroud me saying 'oh, those people are trying to build a mosque here, lets stop that' so that islamic people don't move into their community (why i'm not sure) and in the same sentance complain that some areas of melbourne contain ghettos around the existing mosques but they are not giving these people an option. do people not realize that 'australia' is very young and does not have a predominantly white history anyway? do they not realize that in the 1800s many of those who lived here were of oriental and Mediterranean decent? the entire 'if you don't like australia then go back to where you came from' argument is a paradox, as clearly the ones saying that are the very people that don't like australia and the very people that ultimately came from somewhere else. in relation to christmas, this argument gets even more absurd. the history of christmas is very vague, as it appears to have been (like easter) assimilated from a european pagan holiday at some point and probably isn't to do with jesus at all. im yet to see a biblical passage that says 'jesus was born on december 25, lets all give each other gifts and gorge ourselves on a ridiculous feast'. because of this, i don't see christmas as an important day to any group except the greedy who want some free things and children who naturally enjoy the magical stories of santa and his deer. from my experience most of this 'if you dont like ...... get out' sort of business is directed at islamic people, who accept that jesus was indeed a prophet and an important man and so would likely be happy to celebrate a day for him. after all, it was some Christians that accepted Muhammad and taught him the ways of religion. EDIT: typo

the current offer in the free ethnohobotanicals thread includes lemon balm. if anyone interested has anything to offer in it's place then this would be a chance to compare. edit: typo

i notice that rosmarinic acid reacts poorly with heat which makes hot/boiling water teas not worth much and some people have suggested smoking might degrade the same compound, also i notice that diterpenes have been isolated from a variety of "coleus". perhaps the variation in reported effects comes from those who experience rosmarinic acid effects and those who experience diterpene effects. i have read that lighter/flame temperature and such things were pretty important in the early days of western salvia d to get noticeable effects so perhaps a similar variable is to blame for the inconsistency here. Mutant, which variety of lighter do you use to light the coleus? direct flame or not? would a vapourizer be more suited to the task? have you smoked through a water filtered pipe for the same effects?

i once read a study which showed the longer an argument went on, the more likely it would be likened to nazi germany and/or hitler. after reading through this thread (a quite a few others) i think for the corroboree the longer an argument goes on the more likely it will be likened to teotzlcoatl lol. in seriousness, though, the argument has brought forward a lot of (off-topic) information that ive found very interesting, however i think a lot of your argument could have been avoided by reading posts more thoroughly. @ gunter. people are no longer arguing that there has been traditional visionary use nor that the plant is native to the americas, simply that it both appears to have arrived on the continent pre-conquest (sources?) and the coleus has proven active in their OWN trials (all of the 'psychedelic' reports come from second hand reports. this supports the chemical analyses you put forward. @ every one else. gunter has NOT denied activity of this plant (correct taxonomy of this one confuses me at the moment), he is only being skeptical of the 'psychedelic claims and is asking for references or a study on specific doses/effects of coleus, which it seems doesn't exist. he also seems to be working towards finding out why some say smoke, some say quid, some say tea etc and develop some consistency in reports so that they are presented in a more legitimate manner. sorry if i have mis-interpereted anything, but it seemed there needed to be a little fresh opinion on these matters. either way, the information regarding both "coleus" and harmala has been very interesting, good luck to everyone doing more research.

I'm sorry if you thought my last post was meant as derogatory by the way, it wasn't. if i didn't agree with a lot of what you say why would i join such a forum as this instead of a regular gardening forum? i do however think the current government would not in fact consider preventing you from using such entheogens as a violation of your human rights but more for your protection. this would make convincing them a schedule change was necessary near impossible and mean the laws would still apply, however misguided they may be. for so long they have been misinformed and regularly uninformed (requiring imagination to kick in) that they simply believe that they are indeed harmful. i once saw a room full of people (my self included) passionately deny that a regular drinking straw could be stabbed through a raw potato, some people passionate enough to bet money on it. after the lecturer demonstrated that the straw could indeed penetrate the potato some people still took a a few minutes to believe and this was with a very clear physical demonstration. proving that peyote use or similar is physiologically safe in the long term may be rather easy (whith huichols coming to mind that lived to 105+) but where is the evidence that using many different entheogens regularly is comparatively safe in the long term? in my opinion, there is going to be doubt in peoples mind about the safety and legitimacy of such use until more evidence of long term safety in western culture and a wider body of evidence in general has been brought in to the fold. the problem with this, is, westerners have a very young history with such things. also, i am concerned for your safety if you follow through with your hunger strike. with so many more apparent violations of human rights around the world (take your pick) 1 guys hunger strike against a widely held opinion may not gather the momentum you hope. i admire your willingness to fight for your rights as a human, but i certainly don't think this is the right manner or even current political climate to attempt such things. perhaps if you are willing to go to such extremes you can traval to/live in the czech republic, brazil or canada (assuming my current knowledge of over seas laws pertaining such things is accurate) for times of the year or annually as part as a quasi-sacred pilgrimage. whatever you do, good luck anyway.

does anyone have this plant in their collection or know of it being in cultivation? i have searched around but can't find much information other than it's root parasite qualities and likely extinction in tasmania and victoria and vulnerable status else where. the latter of which making me pretty interested in raising a specimen. it's nice to think through care that one is able to view such plants and try to preserve them, a notable example is the acacia phlebophylla. there is some information about the plant available here: http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?showprofile=Y&taxon_id=15202

thanks for the input . i just wondered if it were in cultivation because i thought if i had interest someone else may have at some point and may have been able to grow some. i may however need to make a (pretty long) field trip of my own and observe them in their own habitat while i can. it is disheartening to hear that development is still able to destroy such habitats inside the law. with regards to dispersal, i am under the impression that plants will produce a small (2mm in length) oval shaped nut like seed, so i think wind is likely to play a part, however, this is pure speculation. also, i would be interested to read what you have writting with regards to conservation requirements if you are willing to share. thansk againfor your input.

also worth noting for interests sake that Plant alkaloids: a guide to their discovery and distribution By Robert Francis Raffauf on page 192 lists thesium australe as being an alkaloid positive variety of thesium. "Plant resources of tropical Africa: Medicinal plants" edited by Gaby H. Schmelzer suggests the alkaloid thesinine has been isolated from a species, but suggests it may be produced in the host plant that is sustaining the thesium's roots. thesium chinense was/is apparently used in korean traditional medicine to treat respiratory illness, and the following chemical analysis was found http://210.101.116.28/W_kiss2/05004590_pv.pdf and shows some interesting cinnimates, also found in essential oil of cinnamon and derivatives reportedly effective MAOIs. considering this forum, i thought this information might be worth putting up

i think all this is unnecessary. it is all well and good to say you are religious and you want to use said chemical for religious reasons under a vague religious freedom law, but i think scheduling takes precedence. the chemicals you wish to make use of are schedule 9, which makes them prohibited. if they were allowed for some sort of medicinal use (including medicine for the spiritual rather than physical) they would be listed in (probably) schedule 4 or 8. you could realistically die in bourke street from starvation and not accomplish anything, as there are already very established laws that you would need to have changed in order for minimal people to exercise their rights under a young and vague passage of law. i am all for some positive progression of things, but spirituality and hunger strikes are not going to convince the Australian public anything needs changing, there is already too much spiritual diversity for the common person to accept.

what makes it worse is these deals have been made by a prime minister that has been in power twice with out ever being voted in by the people, i now hate to think how we may be being misrepresented.

that is a topic out of my league i'm affraid, but due to its use in industry and creation from high voltage electricity i would say reducing lower atmosphere ozone would be a hard task. all i know is ozone reduces a plants ability to photosynthesize, reducing chlorophyll and rendering the plant vulnerable to sun burn, so that is for sure not the solution.

excessive ozone puts plants under extreme stress and they begin to become chemically imbalanced, discoloured and suffer stunted growth.

the first one looks like young portulaca grandiflora to me, not the most extensive photos though so i could be wrong. not sure about the other.

hi kee, from my knowledge a lot of mangrove species have adapted to absorb nutrients directly from gasses in the air (with aerial roots), apart from some which they take in from the waste products of several bacteria species (leading to a pretty foul smell). my experience has been limited to mangrove (or mangrove like) species of southern victoria but i imagine most encounter similar growth obstacles. your best bet may be plant seeds in varying moisture/salinity conditions and see what works. if you do manage to propagate some, that would be well exciting. the story of this plants emergence is an awesome one, and it could lead to some pretty important medical finds. good luck, and let us know how you go

hi all, my first post here... i was under the impression that snails and spiders and the like lacked a spinal cord and therefore wouldn't feel much regardless of freezing/stamping. on topic, though, I've never thought to use snails in this way. with so many around normally damaging my garden it would be good to be able to use them to help fertilize. thanks for the good ideas and any still to come.