psychoactive orchids?

[psycho0]

the other day i watched that new movie called

'adaptation' and in it meryl streep becomes addicted to snorting the extract of a certain orchid. i was just wondering if there's any truth to this orchid being psychoactive?

thanx

[Rev]

edit

Edited April 21, 2007 by Rev

[mescalito]

Anybody have a pic or description??

I transplanted a native orchid that really took my fancy,and it's blooming beautifully :D

It kinda looks like an asparagus shoot,then forms little pink and white blossoms,also oozes tasty sweet resin at the base of each branch??

[minotaur]

The orchid they were hunting for in the film was the Ghost orchid ( Polyrrhiza lindenii ) - I'm not sure if it was supposed to be the one they made the extract from. The film was based on the book 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean. Apparently she had done an article on John Laroche for the New Yorker Magazine, and went on to write the novel later.

I thought the film was great. The screenplay by Charlie Kaufman ( the screenwriter in the movie ) was really clever & if you haven't seen it you should check it out.

[woof woof woof]

heh, I just found out that my mom has this Oncidium ceboletta from Venezuela,.... also did a search just to be sure that it is really the same spp. that is used by the mexi. indians as a substitute for peyote.

http://www.plantfacts.com/Family/Orchidace...cebolleta.shtml

http://www.delfinadearaujo.com/datacent/oncor7.htm

looks like that it is a very common orchid spp. with a huge range of distrebution.

[Bolwarra]

It's an amazing movie - The whole script writing scenario with his brother was hilarious, The orchid snorters in the flim were apparently of Indian origin if I remeber correctly.

[theobromos]

Vanda roxburghii (spelling?) was reported to be used to produce trance states in Northern India. Many orchids are used as aphrodisiacs (the name comes from Orchis, the ancient reek for testicle) including Dendrobiums in China and Orchis/Ophrys in Europe. The drink Salep, made from these European terrestrial orchids, is mildly stimulating as well as aphrodisiac.

[Guest d0tb0y]

A peyote substitute? What alkaloids does the orchid in question contain?

I've never heard of a mescaline bearing orchid before.. (i'm assuming it's something psychoactively similar instead)

[woof woof woof]

http://www.pioneerherbs.com/vanda_roxburghii.htm

Interesting orchid info.

Other interesting stuff as well. check it out.

[Auxin]

"orchids are used as aphrodisiacs (the name comes from Orchis, the ancient reek for testicle)"

But they were named that because one of the first well documented orchids had two testicle shaped tubers, not because it was an aphrodisiac.

[theobromos]

But in this case the Doctrine of Signatures works.

[M S Smith]

I thought this might be of interest. I'd like to maybe do a bit more examination of this topic in the future. ~Michael~

ORCHIDACEAE known as Peyote

Bletia campanulata (La Llave & Lex) - "peyote" "peyote cimarrón" - I have Richard Evans Schultes' Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) and Plants Confused With It (Botanical Museum Leaflets, Vol. 5, No. 5. Harvard University, 1937) as the source, but I wonder how this one got in the literature when it is presently known from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, and Ecuador. Schultes referrence in his article is A.L. Herrera's Catalogo Alfabetico de Nombres Vulgares y Cientificos de Plantas que Existen en Mexico (1923).

Cranichis speciosa (La Llave & Lex) - "peyote" "peyote cimarrón" - This one also comes from Schultes through Herrera. It is mention briefly, and without detail, in the Highlights of Ochid History (0001-1599 A.D. section) link below.

Oncidium longifolium "híkuli" "peyote" - This species is a peyote replacement among the Tarahumara if one misplaces the "true híkuri" (L. williamsii?). It is also known as O. cebolleta or O. ascendens (less likely as this appears to be its own independent species) and contains phenanthrene derivatives of unknown pharmacology. It is believed to be a native of Mexico and the West Indies to Paraguay, something that accounts for wide variability in growth and for its multiple synonyms. This one appears to originally come from Robert A. Bye Jr.'s Hallucinogenic Plants of the Tarahumara (Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 1979).

If you are interested in Orchid history here is one of the most interesting sites on the net: http://www.r-rigby.demon.co.uk/histointro.html

[Rev]

edit

Edited April 21, 2007 by Rev

[devance]

Stelis sp. Orchidaceae

http://www.montana.com/manu/plants.html

Heres a web site of a researcher who went to South America in search of plants for headache cures. There are a number of new plants mentioned including.

Kemishitsa, tentatively Stelis sp. Orchidaceae. Oscar very excitedly brought us this specimen one day after he found it on the trail. Apparently, it was the plant that his master used to help him attain status as a seripegari, or shaman. He reports that it is very powerful, and we began calling it "the hallucinogen that falls from the sky". If corroborated, it will be the first such claim for this, the largest plant family, with some 30,000 species

list of plants

http://www.montana.com/manu/paper.html

amusing travelogue

http://www.montana.com/manu/log.html