Virola

Virola, also known as Epená, is a medium sized tree native to the South American rainforest closely related to other Myristicaceae, such as nutmeg. It has glossy, dark leaves with clusters of tiny yellow flowers and emits a pungent odor. The dark-red resin of the tree bark contains several hallucinogenic alkaloids, most notably 5-MeO-DMT, perhaps the most "powerful" member of the Dimethyltryptamine family; it also contains beta-carbolines from the harmala family, MAOIs that greatly potentiate the effects of DMT.

The bark resin is prepared and dried by a variety of methods, often including the addition of ash or lime, presumably as basifying agents, and a powder made from the leaves of the small Justicia bush. Ingestion is similar to that of Yopo, consisting of assisted insufflation, with the snuff being blown through a long tube into the nostrils by an assistant.

See also

• Ayahuasca
• Entheogen

Books

• Jonathan Ott – Shamanic Snuffs or Entheogenic Errhines (2001) ISBN 1888755024
• Richard Evans Schultes – Plants of the Gods (1992) ISBN 0892819790

External Links

Erowid Virola Vault