Calea zacatechichi

[Tomer Corymbosa]

so i have to know - how do i grow this plant from seeds - i'm gonna have fresh seeds from pods - about 40...

i'm gonna do my last growin experience on this plant - and i'm gonna do it right (after i've failed 4 times...)

please' i need a detailed instructions.

Thank you very much!

[apothecary]

I hear it isn't easy to grow them from seed, so if you do get a repeatable technique going, post it please!

[AndyAmine.]

I think Teo had some luck wiht them, you may like to ask him?

[Tomer Corymbosa]

i need all the info you can give me.

(if u know about it..)

and thanks i'll pm teo anyway.

[planthelper]

i think to remeber that lorax grew heaps of them by seed, aswell as gom.

so wait for what they have to say.

i would, fill pots with searls seedraising mix, than compact the surface, now water a bit, than place seeds, than sprinkle a tiny ammount of additional soil evenly and compact again. now water again using a sprayer, so to make sure you don't wash the seeds out of the mixture.

finaly cover the pots with sheets of glass or plastic.

[teonanacatl]

i used normal potting mix, kept humid, seeds sown on surface, wait months, they look like weeds when they first germinate.

[planthelper]

so we could guess they need light to germinate, that could explain why many people had trouble getting them up.

[teonanacatl]

yeah i think a number of factors light, heat, and freshness of seed. plus low germination rate. has anyone with plants from me had them flower??

[Bongchitis]

40cm tall and in good nick..........no flowers yet.

[teonanacatl]

the seed from them might be better if two can cross pollinate. some of the ones i sent off had flowers when i sent them.

[Stonehenge]

My plants are in flower, I suppose I should gather the seed and try to grow some. I'll try surface sowing and see how that does.

[planthelper]

there are two distinctive types around.

one (teo's, gom's {mine hasn't flowered yet}) which has a bit broader, chubby leaves, another prominet feature with this one is that sometimes the new growth flush, has an orange color.

the other one, has less chubby leaves and it's new growth flushes never turn orange.

i think to remeber a post wher somebody said that only the new flush, orange colored leave type is strong, but i don't support this view, but maybe the "golden shine" variety is more potent.

i intend to x-pollinate the two.

[woof woof woof]

Okay Okay,...... why the heck isn't there any info on the chemistry of CZ? Or by which mechanisms it works?

He he ,.. in the good ol days, I used to drink CZ :saufen2: - and my gawd, what a nasty taste. With no noticed effects from. ( to me it is the most nastiest tasting plant I have tried. )

I gave up on it. I am not drinking it till i find out more about it!

[teonanacatl]

growing from seed gave me a wide variety of plants, some that even tasted nice but i dont know the activity of them. there was a paper out that discussed the effects but i dont think it pinned down a specific compound. calea for me was always hit and miss, somtimes i got the effects others i got nothing, for me it was a great deep sleep which was full of dreams and i woke up feeling great. the key i found was big doses and i hadta fall asleep within a few minutes of taking it otherwise it didnt work, which is harder then it sounds.

i found calea to be very synergistic with psychedelics. i used it in a smoking mix ontop of which i would smoke spice, the mix consisted of roughly 1 part calea, heimia, damiana and sometimes some normal sally leaf, the damiana was for taste as calea and sally always tasted horrible.

my initial interest in ethnobotany was aroused by castaneda and poisenous plants, i wanted to take peyote and datura, when i stumbled across erowid i was amazed and took interest in many of the legal highs which had non psychedelic effects, i wasnt interested in psychedelics. things change though

calea for me is part of a large list of plants which we dont quite know the full potential of, heimia is another in the long list which many people look over in the rush for the easier to understand plants with more definite and striking effects. for me these plants would be great to study but with so many plants and so little time its hard to choose.

a dream of mine is a ethnobotanical institute where not only the pharmacology and chemistry are studied but the growing harvesting and even genetics of the plants can be studied. hehe good dream but maybe someday if i win lotto or become rich

[t st tantra]

inspired by teos success i decided ,last autumn[?] to have another go at these.

and i seem to have 10 to 20 little plants,some have their 3rd set of true leaves and have springy stems.

dont know when i should transplant them?

i used coco peat on top of potting mix and placed fresh seed straight from plant to soil top.

then watered in ,hoping the water would wash some in a little.the pot sat in a saucer of water in a warm to hot spot with a little direct light.

i use calea ,smoke a few leaves,to clear the senses,a traditional use and add it to smoking mixes to increase visual content.

t s t .

[teonanacatl]

they are so hardy you can transplant them when ever. yeah i used it to increase visuals in smoking mixtures, works really well.

[Rev]

i have an affection for calea plants too

its form ,it texture, colours and effects

its my version of cannabis cos i cant take the real thing

when coming down its a great smoke before bed - especially with tablespoon or 3 of strong alcoholic calea tincture.

unlike some other minor ethnobotanicals i am convinced of the efficacy of this herb when its growj right and picked and treated right

i mean if someone gave you some seedy hemp mad into a cup of tea under the guise that that was cannabis then youd have the wrong impression wouldnt you...

i think to remeber a post wher somebody said that only the new flush, orange colored leave type is strong

id like to source this and any other distinctive forms.

i have my own experiences with producing high quality Calea and with the strain i have i know how to do that

you have to observe the plant closely and test it and youll see when its best

There is info on Calea if you dig for it

dig this...:D;)

Journal of Ethnopharmacology 18 (1986) 229-243 Eleavier Scientific

Publishers Ireland Ltd

PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGIC ANALYSIS OF AN ALLEGED

ONEIROGENIC PLANT: CALEA ZACATECHICHI

LILIAN MAYAGOITIA. Jose-Luis Diaz and Carlos M. CONTRERAS

Departamenta de Psicobiologia y Cunducto, Instituto Mexicano de Psiquiatria,

Antiguo Camino a Xochimilco 101, San Lorenzo Huipulco Tlalpan 14370 and

Departamento de Fisiologia. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomedicas,

Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Apartado Postal 70228. Ciudad

Universitaria, Coyoacan 04510 (Mexico, D.F.)

(Accepted October 8. 1986)

Summary

Calea zacatechichi is a plant used by the Chontal Indians of Mexico to obtain

divinatory messages during dreaming. At human doses, organic extracts of the

plant produce the EEG and behavioral signs of somnolence and induce light

sleep in cats. Large doses elicit salivation, ataxia. Retching and occasional

vomiting. The effects of the plant upon cingulum discharge frequency were

significantly different from hallucinogenic-dissociative drugs (ketamine,

quipazine, phencyclidine and SKF-10017). In human healthy volunteers, low

doses of the extracts administered in a double-blind design against placebo

increased reaction time end time-lapse estimation. A controlled nap sleep

study in the same volunteers showed that Calea extracts increased the

superficial stages of sleep and the number of spontaneous awakenings. The

subjective reports of dreams were significantly higher than both placebo and

diazepam, indicating an increase in hypnagogic imagery occurring during

superficial sleep stages.

Introduction

Dreams are important in mesoamerican cultures. They are believed to occur in

a realm of suprasensory reality and, therefore, are capable of conveying

messages (Lopez-Auatin. 1980). The use of plant preparations in order to

produce or to enhance dreams of a divinatory nature constitutes an ethno-

pharmacological category that can be called "oneiromancy" and which justifies

rigorous neuropharmacological research. There are several plants used in

Indian communities of Mexico to obtain divinatory messages from dreams.

Several puffball mushrooms (Lycoperdon spp.), wrongly reported as

hallucinogens (Ott et al., 1975), are eaten fresh by Mixtec Indians before

going to bed in order to dream (Diaz, 1975. 1979). Nahuatl Indians from the

Sierra de Puebla use an as yet unidentified species of Salvia, known by the

name of Xiwit, for the same purpose (Tim Knab, pers. commun.). The plant

known as Bakana to the Tarahumara Indians, which has been reported to be an

analgesic, antipsychotic and divinatory agent (Bye. 1979), was later found to

be employed for dreaming during night sleep (William Merrill, pers. commun.).

Finally, Calea zacatechichi Schl. (Compositae) is used in the same context by

the Chontal Indians of Oaxaca. C. zacatechichi is a plant of extensive

popular medicinal use in Mexico (Diaz. 1976). An infusion of the plant

(roots, leaves and stem) is employed against gastrointestinal disorders, as

an appetizer. cholagogue, cathartic, antidysentry remedy, and has also been

reported to be an effective febrifuge. With other aromatic Compositae, dry

C. zacatechichi is used as insecticide (Diet, 1975). There is also some

information concerning psychotropic properties of this plant that require

further clarification (Schultes and Hofmann, 1973).

The pioneer study on the appetizer properties of zacatechichi, conducted at

the Institute Medico Nacional of Mexico, mentioned some psychoactive effects

(Sandoval, 1882). MacDougall (1968) reported that a Chontal informant knew

that the leaves of the plant were to be either smoked or drunk as an infusion

to obtain divinatory messages. Subsequent interviews with MacDougall's

informant and active participation in ceremonial ingestion revealed that the

plant is used for divination during dreaming (Diaz, 1975). Whenever it is

desired to know the cause of an illness or the location of a distant or lost

person, dry leaves of the plant are smoked, drunk and put under the pillow

before going to sleep. Reportedly, the answer to the question comes in a

dream. A collection of interviews and written reports concerning the

psychotropic effects of these preparations on 12 volunteers has been

published (Diaz. 1975, 1979). Free, reports and direct questioning disclosed

a discrete enhancement of all sensorial perceptions, an increase in imagery,

mild thought discontinuity, rapid flux of ideas. and difficulties in

retrieval. These effects were followed by somnolence and a short sleep during

which lively dreams were reported by the majority of the volunteers. These

preliminary observations suggested that the psychotropic effects of the plant

were similar to those interesting from ethnobotanical. psychological and

neuropharmacological of the "cognodysleptic" drugs, whose prototype is

marihuana (Cannabis sativa)(Diaz, 1979). The possible effects upon dreaming

are the most perspectives.

C. zacatechichi is a shrub measuring 1-1.5 m in height. The plant has many

branches with oviform and opposite leaves (3-5 cm long and 2-4 cm wide). The

leaves show serrated borders, acute endings and a short petiole. They are

rugose and pubescent. The inflorescence is small and dense (comprising around

12 flowers each) with the pedicels shorter than the heads (Martinet, 1939).

The plant grows from Mexico to Costs Rice in dry savannas and canyons

(Schultes and Hoffmann, 1973). The name of the species comes from Nahuatl

"zacatechichi" which means "bitter grass' and is the common name of the plant

all over Mexico. It is also known with the Spanish names of "zacate de perro"

(dog's grass), "hoja madre" (mother's leaf) "hoja de dies" (Cod's leaf), and

thle-pela-kano in Chontal Diaz, 1975).

Several sesquiterpene lactones had been isolated from the plant. Calaxin and

ciliarin were identified by Ortega et al. (1970), and the germacranolides,

1B-acetoxy zacatechinolide and l-oxo zacatechinolide, by Bohlmann and Zdero

(1977). Quijano at al. (1977. 1978) identified caleocromenes A and B and

caleins A and B. while Ramos (1979) found caleicins I and II. Herz and Kumar

(1980) isolated acacetin, o-methyl acacetin, zexbrevin and an analogue, as

well as several analogues of budlein A and neurolenin B, including calein A.

C. zacatechichi samples show differences in chemical composition, which has

led Bohlmann et al. (1981) to suggest that chemical taxonomy may help to

reclassify the genus. Further taxonomic work is required since our Chontal

informant distinguishes between "good" and "bad" varieties according to their

psychotropic properties.

In the present paper we report some properties of zacatechichi extracts upon

cat behavior and EEG, human reaction time, nap EEG, and subjective

experiences.

Materials and methods

Plant collection and extract preparations "Good" samples of C. zacatechichi

were collected under the guidance of the Chontal informant near Tehuantepec,

Oaxaca during November, 1978. Specimens of this collection were identified by

Dr. Miguel Angel Martinet Alfaro at the National Herbarium of Mexico as C.

zacatechichi despite the Fact that there were minor morphological differences

relative to previously collected material. The samples were identical with

collections made in the area of the isthmus of Tehuantepec.

One kilogram of the dried plant (stem and leaves) was mashed and extracted

with hexane until exhaustion in a Soxhlet apparatus. This fraction was dried

and 308 of an solvent-free hexane extract were obtained. The remaining

material was thoroughly extracted with methanol and the organic fraction

evaporated. This procedure resulted in 86 g of a solvent-free gummy residue

called the methanol extract. Both extracts were separated in fractions and

packed in gelatin capsules for pharmacological experiments. The dose was

estimated in the following manner: the human dose for divinatory purposes

reported by the Chontal informant is "a handful" of the dried plant. Since

the mean weight of many handfuls taken by several people was 60g we decided

that the average human dose (HD-1) is around 1 g/kg of dried-mashed material.

Therefore, the HD-1 for the hexane extract was 30 mg/kg, and 86 mg/kg for the

methanol extract. In the experiments with cats. doses of HD-2. -4. -6 and -10

of both extracts were used. The EEG; effects of C. zacatechichi extracts were

compared with those elicited by phencyclidine (Bio-ceutic Laboratories),

quipazine (Miles Research Products). ketamine (Parke Davis) and SKF-10047

(Smith Kline B French), and industrial solvent toluene. which can produce the

appearance of 6 cps spike and wave activity in the cingulum of cats. During

the appearance of this electrographic activity animals show "hallucinatory"

behavior (Conteras et al.. 1979, 1984).

Behavioral toxicology in cats

This first experiment was performed in order to assess the possible toxic

behavioral effects of C. zacatechichi extracts. For this purpose three male

cats (3 kg each) were used. Observations were done from 1300 to 1500 h in a

sound-attenuated recording chamber (109 x 76 x 74 cm) with a triple-glass

wall. Each animal was placed in the cage and its behavior was recorded for

1 h prior to oral administration of a gelatin capsule (25 x 8 mm) containing

a zacatechichi extract and 2 h thereafter. Each capsule was placed inside the

mouth and swallowing was forced by giving 2-3 ml of saline solution. The

extracts (methanol or hexane) and doses (HD-1, HD-2. HD-4. HD-10) were

randomly assigned and tested only once. Two cats were observed three times

and the third animal twice. Between tests each animal was allowed to rest for

6 days. Sampling ad libitum (Altmann. 1974) was used to evaluate the cats'

response. Attention was given to abnormal behaviors such as ataxia, bizarre

postures and movements directed to non-existing objects (Fischer. 1969).

EEG activity in cats

Several common EEG effects to a series of hallucinogenic compound have been

reported by Winters et al. (1972). A dissociative action in multi-unitary

activity between the reticular formation and basolateral amygdala and a

hypersynchronic rhythm (2-3 cpa) in cortical recording are the two most

characteristic features. Tracheal administration of neurotoxic industrial

solvents produce limbic discharges while cats display "hallucinatory

behavior" (Contreras et al., 1979). The following experiment was designed to

ascertain whether C. zacatechichi extracts share these neurophysiological

actions.

Six adult male cats were stereotaxically implanted with stainless steel

concentric bipolar electrodes in the basolateral amygdala. the septum and

cingulum according to the atlas of Snider and Niemer (1961). Epidural

electrodes were placed on the cortex at the marginal circumvolution. After

surgery the animals were allowed a & 1 week recovery period. Each cat was

used as its own control and the effects of oral administration of

zacatechichi extracts (HD-6) were compared to those of phencyclidine (400

ug/kg i.m.), quipazine (10 mg/kg i.p.), ketamine (6 mg/kg i.m.) and SKF-10047

(3 mg/kg i.m.). These drugs are dissociative psychodysleptics and produce 6

cps wave-and-spike activity in cingulum recording in addition to the

characteristic hypersynchronic rhythm (Contreras at al., 1984). In each

experiment, control recordings were taken in addition to at 60 min and + 120

min after drug administration.

Reaction Time and Time-lapse estimation in humans

Measurement of reaction time to a light flash and the ability to calculate

fixed lapse times in humans allows the identification of hypnotic compounds

(Fernandez-Guardiola et al., 1972). Objective evaluations of time perception

modification by marihuana have been achieved with the same technique

(Fernandez-Cuardiola et al., 1974). From the experiments performed in cats it

appeared that zacatechichi had hypnotic properties. Therefore, we chose this

experimental paradigm to evaluate human effects. The study was performed in

5 healthy volunteers (3 women and 2 men. ages 23-34) according to the

procedure described by Fernandez-Guardiola et al. (1972, 1974). The subjects

were informed about the experiment and the known effects of the plant and a

written consent was obtained. Capsules containing either a Calea extract

(HD-1) or placebo were administered 1 H before the task in a double-blind

randomized design, where neither the volunteers nor the evaluator knew which

substance had been ingested. The first session did not involve the

administration of any substance in order to habituate the subjects to the

experimental manipulations. Physiological responses recorded included EEG,

electromyogram, electrocardiogram, and galvanic akin response. All sessions

were done at the same time period (1700-1820 h). A complete session consisted

of alternated 10-min periods for reaction-time evaluation and 10-min periods

for time-lapse estimation. In the reaction-time periods the subjects were

instructed to press a button with their dominant hand as soon as possible

after a light wee dashed. Intervals between consecutive dashes were of 10-s

duration. In the following 10 min, alternating with the reaction-time periods,

the subjects were asked to estimate the dash intervals by pressing the button

each time they thought the light should have been dashed. The entire test

lasted 80 min. Analysis of variance was used to assess results between and

within individuals, the protected "t" and Least Significant Difference tests

were used in paired comparisons.

Sleep recordings in humans

The conventional procedure for EEG recording of sleep (Rechtschaffen and

hales. 1968) was used in a similar double-blind randomized design which in

this case, included a low dose of an active hypnotic drug (diazepam, 2.5mg

orally). In order to standardize the nap session, all volunteers were asked

to reduce their normal sleep time by 2 h the night before testing. The

extract, diazepam or placebo capsule was ingested 1 H prior to the recording

session (1700-1900 h). The physiological variables recorded included

respiratory and heart rates, number of nap episodes, total time spent in

wakefulness (W). in slow wave sleep stages (SWS stages I to IV) and in rapid-

eye-movement sleep (REM) (Rechtschaffen and Kales, 1968). The respiratory

rate was recorded by means of a thermistor located in the nostril and

connected to a polygraph amplifier measuring the air temperature in each

inhalation-exhalation cycle. This is an indirect method which provides the

frequency and amplitude of respiratory rate. Data analyses were done by means

of factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA). For paired comparisons, the

Student Newman-Keuls test was used.

Dream reports

The psychological effects of Calea extracts were evaluated by the application

of directed questionnaires and analysis of free reports of the subjective

sensations and dreams in all human volunteers after the reaction-time, nap

sessions and the following night. Neither the subjects, the interviewer nor

the evaluator knew whether the individual had taken a plant extract,

diazepam, or placebo. The results were compared by the binomial test.

Results and discussion

Behavioral toxicology in cats

Some minor behavioral changes were observed with low doses of both extracts

(HD-1 and HD-2). The cats stared for long periods of time and 30 min after

the administration of the zacatechichi extracts somnolence and sleep were

frequently observed. The HD-4 and HD-1O doses of the hexane extract produced

ataxia, bilateral contractions of nasal and maxillar muscles, and stereotyped

pendulum head movements. The HD-10 dose also induced salivation with vomiting

occurring about 90 min after administration. The methanol extract produced

ataxia (HD-4) and compulsive grooming (HD-2). A common toxic effect of both

extracts (doses HD4 and HD-10) was retching and thick salivation.

It was not clear if these effects were elicited by direct central nervous

system stimulation or in response to local gastric irritation caused by some

bitter principle of the plant. This activity was noted by Giral and Ladabaum

(1959) and may be responsible for the appetizer properties of C. zacatechichi.

Stare and pendular head movements can be elicited by several psychoactive

drugs such as toluene (Alcaraz et al., 1977; Contreras et al., 1977),

quipazine (Sales et al.. 1966, 1968) and dopamine agonists (Ernst.1967).

These effects are. therefore, not specific for any one of the several classes

of psychoactive compounds. Moreover, staring and pendular head movements may

merely be indications of somnolence. In order to analyze more precisely the

neural effects, electrophysiological recordings were taken in free-moving

cats.

EEG activity in cats

Both plant extracts produced similar EEG changes which were very different

from the other drugs used. The hexane extract induced 3 cps large

voltage rhythms in the cortex, cingulum and septum while the methanol extract

provoked 8 slowing of the EEG rhythm more predominant in subcortical

structures. Somnolence was observed during the appearance of these changes.

A quantitative analysis of frequency of discharge in the cingulum was

performed for all drugs tested. The hexane extract produced only minor

changes while the methanol extract clearly decreased the frequency. This

response is in contrast to the known psychodysleptic compounds which produce

decreases of 6-7 cps (Contreras et al., 1984).

The results of these experiments show that zacatechichi does not share the

neurophysiological effects of the dissociative psychodysleptics and only

induces the behavioral and EEG signs of somnolence and sleep. The apparent

low toxicity of the plant in these experiments and its history of ethno-

botanical use allowed us to ascertain the hypnotic potency, dream-inducing

effects and other psychotropic properties in human beings. Reaction time and

time-lapse estimation in humans. No differences among the three treatments

were found for human rate, galvanic skin response and EEG recordings. With

the methanol extract, short periods of sleep (stage I) usually appeared

between flash intervals, and the subjects were awakened by the light. Both

extracts produced a statistically significant slowness of reaction-time:

250 ms with placebo, 280 ms with hexane extract and 290 ms with methanol

extract (P

zacatechichi extracts. The methanol extract increased estimation by 3 s on

average (P

change was not significantly different from controls.

The characteristic EEG slowness and the increased reaction times of subjects

treated with both extracts suggested that zacatechichi may contain hypnotic

compounds. Moreover, a larger effect was elicited by the methanol extract

suggesting that the active compounds might be found in the polar fractions.

An increase in time-lapse estimation and a weak respiratory analeptic effects

have been reported after marihuana administration (Fernandez-Guardiola et

al., 1974).

Sleep recordings in humans

Since the experiment just discussed did not allow an analysis of sleep

stages, the possibility of sleep and dream modifications by zacatechichi was

tested in a nap study conducted in the same human volunteers. Heart rate,

total time and frequency of each stage of sleep did not change with any

treatment in comparison to placebo (Fig. 5). However, it was found that the

frequency of W and SWS-IV stages were significantly modified by treatments

(W F(3,32)= 5.28, P

comparisons showed that, upon onset of sleep, the methanol extract and

diazepam increased significantly the frequency of W stages (P

compared to placebo. In contrast, methanol extract and diazepam decreased

significantly (P

sleep were not significantly modified by treatments, SWS-I and SWS-II showed

a alight increase in comparison to placebo and, in contrast, SWS-III and REM

stages decreased slightly. Respiratory rate was significantly modified by

treatments (F(3,400)=79.92, P

methanol extract increased (P

Although this small increase may lack physiological relevance, it does

suggest a pharmacological effect upon respiratory rate. These results support

the idea that zacatechichi extracts, particularly the methanol fraction,

contain compounds with activity equivalent to sub-hypnotic diazepam doses.

Ingestion of the plant produces a light hypnotic state with a decrease of

both deep slow-wave sleep and REM periods. The question of the ethnobotanical

use and open trial reports of dream enhancement was studied in the following

section by the evaluation of subjective reports during the sleep study.

Dream reports

The quantitative results concerning hypnagogic imagery and dreams are

summarized in Table 1. Data from the reaction-time and the nap sessions end

the following night were pooled. Significantly more dreams (P

comparison to placebo) were reported after the methanol extract. Similarly,

the number of dreams reported during naps was significantly higher following

the administration of the plant extracts than with diazepam (P

can be appreciated that, although not significant, the number of dreams

reported was greater after the ingestion of Calea extracts than placebo. A

more detailed analysis of dream content is shown in Table 2. The number of

subjects that did not remember dreaming was always greater after placebo and

diazepam administration and. conversely, the individuals that reported more

than one dream per session were always the ones treated with zacatechichi

extracts. The dreams reported by subjects ingesting Calea extracts, were of a

shorter content (measured by the number of lines written in the report).

Spontaneous reports of emotions and nightmares were not different among the

four treatments. Nevertheless, with the methanol extract more colors during

dreaming were mentioned. These results show that zacatechichi administration

appears to enhance the number and/or recollection of dreams during sleeping

periods. The data are in agreement with the oneirogenic reputation of the

plant among the Chontal Indians but stand in apparent contradiction to the

EEG sleep-study results. It is well known that dreaming activity is

correlated to the REM or paradoxical phase of sleep (Aserinsky and Kleitman,

1953) and it could be expected that a compound that increases dream would

also increase REM stage frequency or duration, as it has been shown to occur

with physostigmine (Sitaram et al., 1978). In contrast, zacatechichi

increases the stages of slow wave sleep and apparently decreases REM sleep.

This also occurs with low doses 12-10 mg) of diazepam (Harvey, 1982). Despite

this similarity in EEG effects, diazepam decreases dreaming reports (Firth,

1974) while zacatechichi extracts enhances them. Such discrepancy may be

explained by the fact that dreaming and imagery are not restricted to the REM

episodes but also occur during slow wave sleep (SWS I and II) as lively

hypnagogic images (Roffwarg et al., 1962). Such images are reported as brief

dreams and are known to be enhanced by marihuana (Hollister, 1971). All this

suggests that Calea zacatechichi induces episodes of lively hypnagogic

imagery during SWS stage I of sleep, a psychophysiological effect that would

be the basis of the ethnobotanical use of the plant as an oneirogenic and

oneiromantic agent.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their gratitude to Dr. Alfredo Ortega for advice

in the preparation of the plant extracts.

References

(removed, completely illegible)

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[t st tantra]

sorry please disregard the above post ,they turned out to be something else.

i'll try crossing the 2 varieties next time.

i've tried 2 forms now and concider both active.

the one which i know and love,the same as torstens ext and gomaos's plants seems more stimulant and much less visual,but active at a slightly lower dose,a few leaves in a smoke.this form clears my senses.

this reddish tinged form from teo seems heavily visual,fantasically so,the colour tones,contrasts,control of variable perspective.....blah blah ....colours never seen before.....i could see anything,go anywhere[with vilca and cyprus]. but the dose would be closer to 6 leaves,as rev says its fine by itself.dosnt seem to clear my head though.

i always got a blue visual tone with the old calea,this new one has sort of all colours and silver static .

t s t .

[teonanacatl]

shit i wish i had kept a plant lol

[mescalito]

I've been playing with oneirogenics on and off for a few years now and Calea is one of the best imho.

Others worth considering are mugwort,blue lotus and definitely L.inebrians.

I only ever tried the leaves from the one Calea plant/strain from Andrew and always had effects consistent with those described in that paper Rev kindly pasted(thanks Rev!).

He had/has the variety where the leaves would turn orangey red and they smelled very strongly of turpines as did the smoke.

Normally I'd smoke 3 large cones through a bamboo pipe but a bong works fine just before going to bed and that would bring on the most visual meaningful and brightly coloured dreams every time...but alas the bag of leaf Andrew kindly gave me ran out a fair while back (wink wink nudge nudge ^_^ )

From the last 5g of that batch left I made a ghetto style 5x using cheap white spirits which was markedly more potent so I'd agree the above paper is spot on with alcohol extn being the best way to catch the actives.

I hope Andrew doesn't mind me saying but I reckon he has quite a potent variety worth cloning if Calea is easy enough to clone that is??

[teonanacatl]

calea is very easy to propagate

[apothecary]

I just got a cutting of goms variety from smogs a few days ago (along with about 45g of fresh leaf which is drying now), if anyone has one of the other varieties and is willing to spare a cutting please pm me for a trade? :D

I think Calea extract, Lotus extract and powderised mandrake root all together would make a fine dream smoking mix.

[t st tantra]

shit i wish i had kept a plant lol

umm,what does this mean?

by the way ,what was the source of the seed you grew from?

i had thought the effects of calea accumulative but got little from last nights effort,maybe a weak variant.

number 20 may be the one i was most impressed with ,still picking bits and peices of not quite mature plants that are not in full sun yet.so things should develop more.

like the bitter medicinal flavour of the smoke.

a salvia dream herb, xiwit ?

bakana?

t s t .

[teonanacatl]

lol i got rid of all plants that seeded easily, calea, heimia, mg. cos i was seeing little ones growing where i haddent planted them. so i sold all my plants with numbers which i hope everyone kept on the plant. my seed was from my own plant from gomaos.

[Tomer Corymbosa]

ok ok guys! listen to this!

i have G E R M I N A T I O N of Calea ! ! !

few days ago i recieved seed pods of Calea zacatechichi from Shamans' Palace (lot of seeds!!!).

i took out the seeds from the pods .

took little pot with moist regular soil,i sprinkled the seeds and spray water on the seeds .

i didnt cover the seeds!! not even tiny layer.

i bulid mini greenhouse and put the pot in.

today as normal i looked to see if something changed and 2 seedlings came up!

so now we know! Calea needs LIGHT for germination.

of course i got fresh seeds so we must consider this...

but another great thing is they have germinated in few days and from other people's reports it took months to seeds comin up....so maybe i have luck and maybe not...i should wait to see.

now i'm affraid from the bad white fungi will kill the seedlings....if they will survive the week i'll take pics...

till than