Plant Teachers
Native Quechua and Botanical Names
Cielo Ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi), Ashi Meraya Ethnobotanical Garden.
Photo Credit: Francesco Sammarco
The traditional shamanic initiation as it is practiced still today in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest is embedded in the Spanish term dieta, which refers to the shamanic diet with plant teachers. Plants may also be “dieted” therapeutically, for healing from a particular condition (the healing diet). In either case different degrees of restrictions and/or a specific apprenticeship is required, under the guidance of the shaman. Click here to read more abut the “plant diet”.
Along with their use in the dieta – which has different styles and degrees of rigor – some of these plants and trees may also be employed as admixture in the preparation of the Ayahuasca brew, or find as well other more specific applications in the ceremonial and daily world of the vegetalistas of the Peruvian Amazon. In Ashi Meraya the brew is currently prepared with ayahuasca, huambisa, chagropanga, chacruna and toe’. Other plant additives are at the shaman’s discretion to use.
| Vernacular Name | Botanical Name |
| Abuta | Abuta grandifolia |
| Acatuaua | Maytanus macrocarpa |
| Alcanfor Moena | Ocotea costulata |
| Allpa ayahuasca | Banisteriopsis sp. |
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| Altaruna | Unidentified |
| Amasisa | Erythrinaglauca |
| Anacaspi | Apuleta leiocarpa |
| Ajos chiro | Gallizia corazema |
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| Ajos sacha | Mansoa alliacea |
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| Ayahùma | Couropita guianensis |
| Azucar huayo | Hymenaea sp. |
| Bellaco caspi | Himantanthus sucuuba |
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| Bobinsana | Calliandra angustifolia |
| Camalonga | Thevetia peruviana (?) |
| Cambio de renaco | Unidentified |
| Campana ayahuasca | Banisteriopsis sp. |
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| Canelilla | Aniba canellila |
| Capirona negra | Capirona decorticans |
| Catahua | Hura crepitans |
| Caupuri | Virola surinamensis |
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| Chacruna | Psychotria viridis |
| Chaliponga / Chagropanga / Ojo Yajé | Diplopterys cabrerana |
| Chambira | Astrocaryum chambira |
| Chicuru piripiri | Cyperus sp. |
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| Chiric sanango | Brunfelsia grandiflora |
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| Chiricaspi (palo del frio) | Brunfelsia chiricaspi |
| Chontay caspi | Unidentified |
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| Chonta quiro | Diplotropis sp. (A. Brack) / Anthodiscus sp. (A. Gentry) |
| Cuchara caspi | Malovetia Tamaquarina |
| Chuchuhuasi | Maytenus ebenifolia |
| Chuchuhuasha | Heisteria pallida |
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| Chullachaqui caspi (Chullachaki caspi) | Tovomita sp. |
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| Chullachaqui caspi hembra | Tovomita sp. |
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| Cielo ayahuasca (lucero ayahuasca) | Banisteriopsis caapi |
| Clavohuasca | Tynanthas panurensis |
| Colita de gabilan | Unidentified |
| Cumaceba negra | Swartzia sp. |
| Cumala | Virola sp. |
| Estoraque (Estorake) | Myroxylon balsamum |
| Garabato | Unidentified |
| Giausahuasca | Unidentified |
| Hierba santa (Hierba de la Virgen) | Cestrum hediondinum |
| Hiporuru | Alchornea castaneifolia |
| Huacra renaco | Unidentified |
| Huairacaspi | Cedrelinga catanaeformis |
| Huayra runa | Unidentified |
| Huacapu’ | Minquartia guianensis |
| Huambisa chacruna | Diplopterys sp. |
| Huiririma | Astrocaryum jauari |
| Huicungo | Astrocaryum vulgare |
| Lobo chupa | Unidentified |
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| Lupuna blanca | Ceiba sp. / Ceiba Pentandra |
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| Lupuna roja (puka-lupuna or lupuna bruja) | Cavanillesia hylogeiton / C. umbellata |
| Lupuna negra | Unidentified |
| Mapacho | Nicotiana rustica / Nicotiana tabacum |
| Misqui panga (michiquipanga) | Renealmia alpina |
| Motelo Sacha | Unidentified |
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| Mucura | Petiveria alliacea |
| Murcohuasca | Marcgravia williamsii |
| Mururé | Brosimum acutifolium Huber |
| Nuc-nuc pichana | Scoparia dulcis |
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| Oje’ | Ficus insipida |
| Papastrueno | Dioscorea sp. |
| Piripiri | Cyperaceous sp. |
| Puca chari (rojo dulce) | Unidentified |
| Pumasacha | Roucheria punctata ducke |
| Puro puro | Unidentified |
| Raya balsa | Montrichardia arborecens |
| Rajo ayahuasca | Banisteriopsis sp. |
| Remo caspi | Pithecellobium laetum |
| Renaco | Ficus sp. |
| Renaquilla | Clusia rosea |
| Renaquilla con hojas anchas | Unidentified |
| Renaquilla con hojas minudas | Unidentified |
| Sacha Mango | Grias peruviana |
| Sacha runa | Unidentified |
| Shapaca (Shapaja) | Sheelea cephalotes |
| Shihuauacu | Dipterys sp.? |
| Suelda con suelda | Phtirusa pyrifolia |
| Supay-casha caspi | Unidentified |
| Tahuari’ | Tabebuia heteropoda |
| Tambor Huasca | Unidentified |
| Tangarana | Triplaris surinamensis var. chamissoana |
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| Toe’ | Brugmansia suavolens |
| Trueno ayahuasca | Banisteriopsis sp. |
| Uchu-sanango | Tabernaemontana sp. |
| Uña de Gato de Siete Capas | Uncaria sp. |
| Yahuar Piripiri | Eleutherine bulbosa |
| Yana ayahuasca (ayahuasca negra) | Banisteriopsis sp. |
References
Duke, J. A., Vasquez, R., Amazonian Ethnobotanical Dictionary, CRC Press, 1994
Luna, L.E. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 11 (1984) 135-156; Luna, L.E. Vegetalismo. Shamanism among the Mestizo Population of the Peruvian Amazon, Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis, Stockholm Studies in Comparative Religion 27, Stockholm 1986
Schultes, E.R. and Raffauf, R. F. Vine of the Soul, Medicine Men, their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian Amazonia, Synergetic Press 1992
Luna, L.E. : “Icaros: Magical Melodies“, in Matteson Langdon, E.J. and Baer G. Portals of Power – Shamanism in South America, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque 1992
Dobkins De Rios, M. Amazon Healer. The Life and Times of an Urban Shaman, Prism Press, Dorset 1992
Luna, L.E. and Amaringo P. Ayahuasca Visions, The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman, Berkeley 1999; Luna, L.E. and White, S. (Editors) Ayahuasca Reader – Encounters with the Amazon’s Sacred Wine, Synergetic Press, Santa Fe 2000
A. Gentry A Field Guide to the families and Genera of Woody Plants of Northwest South America, 1993
A. Brack Egg Dicionario Enciclopédico de Plantas Utiles del Perù, 1999; Mejia, K. & Rengifo, E. Plantas Medicinales de Uso Popular en la Amazonia Peruana, 1995.
Tags: amazon, peruvian, plant, plant teachers, rainforest
