Australian Narcotic Plants

[Roopey]

This is a list of native narcotic plants that I have made using the books “Aboriginal People and Their Plants” by Phillip A. Clarke and “Australian Medicinal Plants” by E.V. Lassak & T. McCarthy. I will be adding information to the list as time goes on, but in the meantime I'm sure it will be a good reference for those looking to do more research into the native narcotic plants.

From “Aboriginal People and Their Plants”:

According to Clarke, the aboriginals would use these plants when they ran out of Pituri and Tobacco as substitute narcotics. Mostly they were chewed, after roasting over a fire and mixed with ash from Acacia sp., but sometimes were smoked through bamboo pipes.

In Central Australia they used:

Serrated Goodenia (Goodenia cycloptera)

Sneezeweed (Centipeda sp.)

Speedwell (Evolvulus alsinoides)

Desert Gooseberry (Solanum ellipticum)

Stiff Goodenia (Goodenia lunata)

Bush Vicks (Pterocaulon serrulatum)

In the Northern Territory:

Granadilla (Passiflora quadrangularis)

Heliotrope (Heliotrope sp.)

Witchweed (Striga curviflora)

Emu-berry (Grewia sp.)

In the Kimberley:

Bunch Spear Grass (Heteropogon contortus)

Bunu bunu (Stemodia lythrifolia)

Fruit Salad-bush (Pterocaulon sphacelatum)

Lobelia (Lobelia sp.)

Rock Isotome (Isotoma petraea)

Unfortunately he only covers those territories, and for those of us in the southern half of the country we can't really do much with that list.

Now “Australian Medicinal Plants” has a much more extensive list that is not territory specific, so more information will be added as I collect more data on where to find these plants and there traditional uses. Some of these are on the above list.

Native Narcotic Plants:

Acacia beauverdiana

Acalypha wilkesiana

Amorphophallus variabilis

Callicarpa longifolia

Centella asiatica

Cerbera manghas

Clerodendrum ovalifolium

Codonocarpus cotinifolius

Duboisia hopwoodii

D. myoporoides

Evolvulus alsinoides

Heteropogon contortus

Isotoma petraea

Nicotiana benthamiana

N. cavicola

N. excelsiot

N. gossei

Santalum lanceolatum

Other Mild Narcotics and Painkillers:

Acacia cuthbertsonii

Aegiceras corniculatum

Alocasia macrorrhizos

Alphitonia excelsa

Avicennia marina

Barringtonia calyptrata

Brucia javanica

Buchanania arborescens

B. obovata

Callitris intratropica

Clerodenrum floribundum

Corymbia terminalis

Crotalaria cunninghamii

Cyperus victoriensis

Dendrobium teretifolium

Dodonaea lanceolata

Dodonaea polyandra

Dodonaea viscosa subsp. angustissima

Ehretia saligna

Eremophila alternifolia

E. fraseri

Erythrina verspertilio

Euodia vitiflora

Geijera parviflora

Goodenia varia

Melaleuca cajuputi subsp. cajuputi

Musa banksii

Osbornia octodonta

Pandanus spiralis

Petalostigma pubescens

P. quadriloculare

Polugonum barbatum

Santalum obstusifolium

Senna form taxon 'artemisioides'

Spilanthes grandiflora

Tinospora smilacina

Tribulus cistoides

Ventilago veminalis

Xylomelum scottianum

Happy Hunting,

Roop

Edited December 26, 2012 by Roopey

[waterboy 2.0]

Not sure about Centipeda spp. In Tas traditionally was used as a lotion for skin infections, made into a brew for tuberculosis, and crushed and inhaled and rubbed onto the nose for colds. I have had Centipeda cunninghamii (Common Sneezeweed) rubbed on me a bit like Vicks as a kid, and helps with clearing the nose no doubt.

Perry,L.M. 1980 Medicinal Plants of E & SE Asia lists Centipeda minima however as containing myriogynine, a glycoside and a saponin.

[Bigred]

do you know much about castanospermum australe i have been reading a few things about it it is full of alkoloids and

mostly toxic but one is used to help treat aids .

[Roopey]

AMP has this to say:

Castanospermum australe is used to treat post-prandial hyperglycaemia in diabetic patients. May have potential applications in the treatment of HIV-AIDS. CAUTION: the seeds are quite toxic and must be sliced and washed for several days in water before cooking and consuming.

Active Constituents: The seeds contain bayogenin, a toxic saponin, as well as several alkaloids such as castanospermine, 7-deoxy-6-epi-castanospermine, and australine. Castanospermine has been shown to inhibit growth of the AIDS virus.

I'll see what else I can find about the soaking process and I will PM you. If we could keep the topic of discussion on the narcotic plants that would be great, thank you.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Roopey

[Mycot]

Thanks for posting these lists. Many of these species we know very little about.

Need more bio-assays to figure out which of these may be worth pursuing further.

[Wameron36]

I'm interested in the Grewia species mentioned for NT as I hadn't heard of this before. I've got Grewia latifolia and retusifolia growing in the bush hear that I often collect the fruit from. I know of the plants being well regarded for dysentery and diarrhoea, but never heard anything about narcotic properties.

[gtarman]

Thought I'd add this old post from a thread I just necrobumped - it's a list compiled back in '06/'07:

http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11193&p=150613

[Yeti101]

Don't forget the Customary Medicinal Knowledgebase http://biolinfo.org/cmkb/index.php