Good old Hoffman. What a trooper! It is very interesting reading to learn of his exploits (in the service of science) at Huautla (pronounced WOW-tla) in Oaxaca. A true botanical pioneer. Bonaventure
----- Original Message ----- Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 16:25:55 -0600 From: "george anderson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [OGD] Concerning the Enthenobotany of O. cebolleta To: <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" In a coffee table classic entitled "Plants of the Gods:Origins of Hallucinogenic Use, Richard Schultes and Albert Hofmann, on page 51 report the following: "Oncidium cebolleta is an epiphytic orchid that grows on steep, stone cliffs and trees in the Tarahumara Indian country of Mexico. It is suspected to be an hallucinogen, employed as a temporary surrogate of peyote or Hikun (Lophophora williamsii). Little is known, however, of its use." Unfortunately, due to the way this book is written, it is not possible to follow this statement to the source. I have always assumed that Schultes was referencing R. A. Bye (1975) "Plantas psicotropicas de los Tarahumaras" Cuadernos Cientificos CEMEF 4:49-72. But it is of note that Schultes does reference a later paper, R. A. Bye, Jr. (1979) "Hallucinogenic plants of the Tarahumara" J. Ethnopharmacol., 1, 23-48 on page 186 under the heading of "Further Reading". Stermitz's paper on the alkaloids has already been referenced. It is perhaps of passing note that both Oncidium carthagenense and O.pusillum (sic) are both used ethnomedicinally in Mexico and South America (see J.B. Alcorn (1984). "Huastec Mayan Ethnobotany. University of Texas, Austin, Tx. and R.E. Schultes and R. F. Raffauf (1990). "The Healing Forest: Medicinal and Toxic Plants of the Northwest Amazonia". Ethno & Economic Botany Series, Vol. 2. _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
