Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ethnobotanical
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationData
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material
is quoted with permission, and sources are indicated. A wide variety of references are listed. Reasonable
efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the authors and the publisher cannot
assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or for the consequences of their use.
Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage or
retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
The consent of CRC Press LLC does not extend to copying for general distribution, for promotion, for
creating new works, or for resale. Specific permission must be obtained in writing from CRC Press LLC
for such copying.
Direct all inquiries to CRC Press LLC, 2000 N.W. Corporate Blvd., Boca Raton, Florida 33431.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation, without intent to infringe.
Our book has been enhanced by the taxonomic foundation provided by the arduous and
intensive perseverance of the late Dr. Gentry. He would not rest until he named an
unknown forest giant. It was Al, world authority of the Bignoniaceae, who pointed out how
overcollecting was endangering two medicinal Bignoniaceae around Iquitos, the
"clavohuasca" and "tahuari". We respectfully but sadly dedicate this small volume to a
fallen forest giant, A1 Gentry, friend of the forest and teacher to many of us, trying to save
the forest that survives him. The Amazonian Center for Environmental Education and
Research (ACEER) will dedicate their 250,000-acre forest to his memory. The forest that
kept him going like a robot swallowed him up. But his spirit lives on, and will help in the
difficult efforts to save the forest of today for the children of tomorrow. Few of us can
view any attractive bignoniaceousvine without recalling the ethereal spirit of A1 Gentry and
the forests he represented. Long live the forest and the spirit of Al Gentry.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Alphabetical Listing of Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Index of Common Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Medicinal Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Major References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
PARADISE LOST
(Could be sung to the tune of John Prine's Paradise)
Jim Duke
This book was conceived and delivered in the Amazonian rainforest, and is about the
rainforest, for its inhabitants and devotees, near and far. In addition to helping the curious
visitor identify some of the amazing Amazonian phytodiversity, this book may help
rainforest inhabitants who cannot afford modem medicine identify plants that their
ancestors used for forest maladies. All royalties will revert to ACEER' for rainforest
conservation.
Ah, serendipity! Sra. Maria Wright had sent me a Xerox copy of Rodolfo Vasquez
Martinez' Spanish draft, Plantas Utiles de la Amazonia Peruana. I had it copied and bound
to take to Amazonian Peru, without having even studied it. When Segundo started talking
about a plant, I had merely to look up the local name in the index. That led me to the
scientific name (key to most published ethnobotanical and phytochemical data). In later
travels in Peru, I had the privilege of learning also from Antonio Montero and Lucio Pano.
Their Peruvian folklore naturally matched that of Rodolfo and Segundo, confirming the
value of the lore presented herein.
How well I remember my first amval in Panama 30 years ago, after studying the two-
dimensional flora of Panama in the herbarium at Missouri Botanical Garden. I was ready
to get back on the plane when I saw the flora in three dimensions for the first time. Like
many temperate-zone taxonomists, I was overwhelmed by my first real look at the tropical
flora. There too, I had a good guide, Afroamerican Narciso Bristan, who was well
experienced in the forest. He knew the local names of many plants of Magic Mountain
(Cerro Pirre) in Darien, Panama. By the trunk characteristics, blaze, color, !atex, aroma,
etc., he could even name many of the forest giants. Readily he identified as "cuipo" the
dominant species. It was a long time before I could equate that common name with the
scientific name, Cavanillesia platanifolia. Then there was my Choco Indian confidant,
Loro, who taught me Indian ethnobotanicals by their Choco names, "almiraj6", "boroj6",
"cangrej6", "mamej6", etc. In an eight-year period, including an aggregate of three years'
residence in Panama, by sending herbarium specimens to specialists all over the world, I
'ACEER = Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research. A tax-exempt organization, ACEER
goals are to (1) construct and equip a field station to serve as a natural laboratory for integrating education and
research; (2) provide environmental and economic benefit to neighboring inhabitants of the reserve; (3) complete
the canopy walkway for observation and research; (4) provide a financial basis for the creation of scholarship
grants and research stipends; (5) expand the protected reserve area to 400,000 ha (1,000,000 acres); and (6)
demonstratethe potential for ecologically responsible tourism as an effective conservation strategy. T o attain these
goals, the ACEER foundation was created by Explorama Tours, International Expeditions, and concerned
individuals. All royalties revert to the rainforest, vin ACEER.
constructed my Isthmian Ethnobotanical Dictionary, equating the local names of Panama
plants with their scientific names, and some of the ethnobotanical lore recorded about these
species. I was pleased to see that Vasquez consulted my Isthmian dictionary in writing his
dictionary. Whether in forests of Panama or Peru, newcomers will find these dictionaries
useful when they have reliable guides. Children of the forest guides are not necessarily
learning the tools of the trade. All the more reason to record as much ethnobotanical
wisdom as we can, while we can! The shamans, and their knowledge, and their medicinal
species are disappearing. There is hope. Occasionally, I see the children appreciating the
admiration their parents are receiving from the ecotourists. Perhaps they realize that by
learning and carrying on the traditions, they can earn more money than by planting corn
or joining the youth in the ghettoes of the asphalt jungles.
Expanding its horizons, following the counsel of Dr. Henry Shands and Dr. Allen Stoner,
the USDA encouraged Mr. Eric Rosenquist and me to undertake programs devised to help
conserve tropical biodiversity. The USDA sees the link between the health of the remote
rain forests and the health of the planet. Rain forests and adjacent clearings in Latin
America still house wild relatives of some of North America's most important crops,
imported long ago from Latin America. After my visit to Explorama Lodge, I convinced
the USDA to sponsor Rodolfo Vasquez's book and its translation into English. So on my
second trip to Explorama, I went with an English translation of Rodolfo's dictionary. A1
Gentry mqde dozens of corrections as we motored down the Amazon. Rodolfo met me and
we began assembling illustrations of the species most important to the Amerindians.
After the Amerindians discovered America, perhaps 12, maybe 50, millennia before
Columbus, all their clothing, food, medicine and shelter - those essential things we call
"minor" forest products today - were derived from the forests. Those millennia gave the
Indians time to discover and learn empirically the virtues and vices of the thousands of
edible and medicinal species in the neotropical forests.
Quinine is one of the more amazing stories in Latin America's pharmacopoeia. The quinine
tree, with its dozens of alkaloids, was here before the Indian, long before Columbus, and
smallpox and malaria. The history of the continent might have been different had quinine
cured smallpox. Instead smallpox decimated the Indians, killing millions, before malaria
arrived, perhaps from Africa. The malaria organism was all but controlled by early efforts
with quinine. Gradually the malaria organism developed a tolerance for quinine, and we
switched to chloroquine and other synthetics and semisynthetics. Gradually the plasmodium
developed a tolerance for these as well. WHO-sponsored studies on "qing hao" (Artemisia
annua) and its derivatives, provided the answer, albeit temporary, to chloroquine-resistant
malaria. I predicted that, if natural artemisinin or its semisynthetic derivatives proved out
for chloroquine-resistant malaria, ten or twenty years later, the malaria organism would
evolve resistance to the "qing hao" compounds. We would then be faced with artemisinin-
resistant malaria, and go back to Mother Nature's "Farmacy", the forest, again, hat in
hand, seeking a drug for artemisinin-resistant malaria. (I'm told that artemisinin-resistant
malaria has already evolved.) This semicircular fable should impress upon us the
importance of the forest and biodiversity. If we lose half our species, we cut our odds for
finding the new drug in half. Worse! The species most likely to be lost are those least
likely to have been studied. New strains of many of our older diseases, measles,
tuberculosis, etc., keep cropping up, requiring new medicines. We didn't even know AIDS
twenty-five years ago. Each HIV virus is said to be unlike its parent, each generation
evolving. Amazonian Alexa contains castanospermine, Abrus contains glycyrrhizin,
Capsicum contains caffeic acid, Momordica contains momordicin, Phytolacca contains
phytolaccin, and Ricinus contains ricin, to name a few compounds occurring in native or
introduced Amazonian species that may possibly help in treating AIDS. Among the
thousands of species that have not been analyzed are thousands of unknown chemicals,
many evolved to protect the plants from pathogens. The& chemicals may help us in our
constant struggle with our constantly evolving pathogens. The lower the phytodiversity, the
lower our chances of finding new remedies for the newly evolving scourges of mankind.
Preservation of biodiversity is self preservation.
Thanks to interactions between the Explorama Guides, the Yagua Indians, and Pamela
Bucur de Argvalo, Jim Duke, Francis Gatz, and Peter Jenson, larger ecotours to
Explorama Lodge are now greeted by a Sunday afternoon Yagua craft fair. One impressive
thing about the craft fair is the importance of the palms to the Yagua. Palms are extremely
important among Amerindian cultures throughout tropical America.
At the craft fair, visitors see homes thatched and floored with paltris, drink beverages made
from fruits of "aguaje" and "ungurahui" palms (the latter loaded with monounsaturated
fatty acids like olive oil), eat delicious palm hearts from "chonta" palms, drink liquid
endosperm of the coconut or ivory palm, eat the "flan" of the immature ivory palm seed,
avoid eating the nutritious "suri" (beetle larvae) nurtured in fallen "aguaje" palms, see
carvings made from ivory palms, blowguns reamed with palm, darts fashioned from palm
leaf-stalks, see skirts (worn by males and females) fashioned from "aguaje" palm fibers,
see hammocks being woven from the "chambira" palm, and fine hats and baskets made
from the Panama Hat Palm (not a true palm). Palms provide beverage, clothing, fiber,
fishbait, food, handicrafts, housing, meat, medicine, rattan, water, weaponry and wine to
the Yagua Indians.
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
From Costa Rica to Bolivia, most of the raised Indian houses have hard resilient floors
made of stilt palm called "pona". Heavier and preferred, if locally procured, is the
"huacrapona", Iriartea deltoidea, the stilt palm with a "belly" up the trunk, hence the
alternative name "barrigon". Natives tell us that it takes more than two men to carry this
heavier species' trunk any distance. So, when building off site, the natives prefer the
lighter of the two, the "cashapona", Socrateu exorrhizu, which generally lacks the pot
belly.
With either, the hard outer wood of the trunk, above the stilts, is partially but not
completely slatted, to make lengths of hardwood flooring, so familiar to those of' us who
have enjoyed overnighting at Napo. This flooring is a combination floorlsprings; whenever
anybody makes a midnight visit to the john, everybody rebounds gently with each midnight
footstep.
Not only did Rodolfo Vasquez provide the first definitive draft of this book, he provided
most of the illustrations. How well I remember one January night when a small group sat
around the Napo Lodge, singing "Paradise Lost" (see frontispiece). That January night at
the Napo Lodge, guides Aristides Arevalo, Squntlo Inuma and Lucio Pano were sitting
around with botarlists Jim Duke and Rodolfo Vasquzz. They were acconlpanying a small
Fig. 1. PLANTS USED IN RURAL HOUSING IN AMAZONIAN PERU
(ExplorNapo Camp on Rio Napo)
Art by Rodolfo Vasquez
Loosley Translated by Jim Duke
Note: Different builders in different places may use different species. These species were noted at
ExplorNapo Camp, January 1993.
herbal ecotour group, the "clavohuasqueros", to study useful plants of the Amazon,
including the "clavohuasca", Tynnanthus panurensis, a reportedly non-gender-specific
aphrodisiac. While we can't guarantee that the vine is aphrodisiac, we are sure it contains
eugenol, a compound widely used as a dental antiseptic analgesic. Steeped in local
"aguardiente" (distilled sugar-cane rum), the "clavohuasca", or its solvent, did make the
"clavohuasqueros" a bit more talkative. We soon got up a pool to guess how many
different plants were used in the construction of the Napo house. Most of the guides came
up with numbers below 12, but one guess put the estimate at 20 different species of plants
used in the construction of that attractive rustic edifice. If you have been there, you may
have noticed that the whole house is constructed of native materials, without a single nail.
It's literally tied together with bark ("atadijo" or Trema micrantha) or vines ("huambe" or
Philodendron).
We still don't have the exact count, but its probably closer to 20 than to 10. A few months
after that episode, Vasquez prepared a diagrammatic representation of the house, shown
here as Figure 1. The diagram alone shows more than ten species of plants, omitting the
cutgrass (Scleria) so often hung in the eaves to discourage bats and the balsa, Ochroma
pyramidak, from which the plaques at Napo are carved.
Whether at Explorama, Napo or ACEER, or on the boats between the camps, you have
been kept dry by the favorite thatch palm, called "irapay", Lepidocaryum tessmannii,
leaves of which are woven around a slat of Socratea to make the sheaves that are the
favorite roofing material of that part of Peru. As far as we know, the "irapay" is the only
stemmed palm in Loreto that consistently has four blades arising at the tip of the leaf stalk
as depicted in the diagram (Fig. 2). Eaves of the roof are covered not with "irapay", but
with the leaves of the ivory palm they call "yarina", Phytelephas microcarpa. So the roofs
and floors of many rural Amazonian houses are derived from palms.
Socratea Iriartea
"pona" r i b
"irapay" thatch
Sketch by J a n P r o p s t
Fig. 2. PALMS
THE AYAHUASCA CEREMONY
In an herbal ecotour in January and five times again following a music therapy ecotour
(under Dr. Joe Moreno) to the ACEER camp, Celia Larsen, Rodolfo Vasquez and/or Jim
Duke observed as "ayahuasquero" Don Antonio Montero simulated an "ayahuasca"
ceremony. He apparently performs medicinal, social andlor spiritual ceremonies on the
Napo on special Friday nights. At the ACEER camp, he had his earthen pot on the fire by
2:00 PM. Stems of the "ayahuasca" were pounded and added to the heating water, which
would normally be boiled for hours. Antonio had several other essential constituents in his
brew. Two big leaves (or 4 small leaves) of "to&", probably Brugmansia aurea; a few
leaves of "sacha ajo", probably Mansoa alliacea; a few leaves of "chiricsanango", probably
Brunfelsia grandiJlora.A vital acoutrement was the "yagk", Psychotria sp., which like the
"ayahuasca" and "ipecac", has emetic properties. Antonio suggested it was added to make
the bitter beverage a bit sweeter. All of these, except the "ayahuasca", are rather common
at ACEER, as wild plants or cultivars. But the "ayahuasca", like "clavohuasca",
"chuchuhuasi", and "uiia-de-gato" are disappearing near civilization.
Chances are good that the Psychotria, like Psychotria viridis, contains
N,N,dimethyltryptamine, which is not active when ingested, unless taken with monoamine-
oxidase-inhibitors like the harmaline, harmine, and tetrahydroharmine in "ayahuasca". Add
scopoletin from Brunfelsia and atropine and scopolamine from Brugmansia and you have
a pot-pourri of hallucinogenic (but dangerous) synergy. As Antonio warns, there are bad
"ayahuasqueros" in Iquitos who have sent some gringo initiates home "basket cases". Other
evil "ayahuasqueros" drug their initiates with Brugmansia or Datura and take their money
while they are under the influence. We're not sure how to tell genuine from phoney
"ayahuasqueros". Antonio takes up to four small calabash cups (while none of his
associates/patients take more than three) of this witches brew, usually starting late at night.
First one becomes nauseated, then inebriated, in an hour or so, and all passes within a few
hours. During the "highs", Antonio sees beautiful and colorful visions, of long lost or
deceased friends, of friends who have moved to large cities in the US, strange animals and
spirits of the trees, etc. Most impresive of all his visions, and a real show stopper for
ACEER classes, are Antonio's sweeping gestures, as he discusses the thousand-color
rainbow that wraps around the "ayahuasquero" like a cosmic whirlpool. As he described
it so vividly, Duke lost track of his translation duties, caught up in the vortex.
Under the influence, Antonio divines the cause and cure for his associates' illnesses. Then
he may chant or whistle as he purifies them with the rhythmic "shacapa" fan, and as he
blows organic tobacco smoke onto selected body points of the patient. (Tobacco smoke is
elsewhere blown in the ear to treat earache.) He may use any of several medicinal herbs
at this point, or prescribe them for later use, depending on the diagnosis and prognosis of
the patient.
Antonio, who stated he was 48 years old in 1993, was initiated into ayahuasca at about age
12, by a serious "ayahuasquero", like himself, who selects his apprentice. He considers
himself at once, an "ayahuasquero", a black magician (in league with Lucifer), a healer,
an herbalist and a shaman. First experiences with "ayahuasca" can be terrible, for Indians
and gringos alike, and they may run into the forest, shouting, terrified by their visions.
Antonio's first experience, too, was very frightening and he wanted to back out. But he
was chosen. He and his mentors and mentees believed they were destined to be
"ayahuasqueros", further believing it difficult to change their destiny (and with Antonio,
his league with Lucifer). Like many healers though, he, too, likes to use alien
pharmaceuticals for himself and his family, when available. He does not plan for any of
his children to become "ayahuasqueros*. He picks up a little spending money with his
Friday night "ayahuasca" sessions, much like a musician going to town to pick up a few
bucks on the weekend. To him, "ayahuasca" is not a drug of abuse, but a source of
divination, inspiration, power, telepathy and visions. To the uninitiated it can sometimes
be a very dangerous, even life-threating, "bad trip". A few cases have been mental one-
way trips. Beware!
Blowguns are fashioned from the "Pucuna caspi" which means "blowgun tree", Iryanthera
rricornis, a member of the nutmeg family. Amazonian members of the nutmeg family have
a pagoda-like branching habit wherein many branches emerge at right angles to the trunk,
like a few scattered spokes from the center of a wheel. One long straight branch is selected
and cut off to the desired length, halved, and the center reamed out with a reamer made
from the hard outer bark of the "pona" palm (Zriartea or Socratea). With the "pona" palm
they "sand" the bore. Then the two halves of the blowgun are glued with a resin or tar-like
"brea" (probably Protium) and tied tightly with coils of the "huambe", aerial roots of a
Philodendron, which may also be further affixed with "brea". The spool-like mouthpiece
is fashioned from "insira", Maclura tinctoria, a relative of our mulberry tree.
Darts are usually made from slivers of the petioles of palm leaf stalks, most often the
"inayuga", Maximiliana venatorum. At one end of the sliver they affix a wad of kapok or
"huimba", Ceiba samauma. They dip the other end in one of their curare mixtures, of
arrow or dart poisons. The business end of the dart is often sharpened between piranha
teeth. Curare recipes vary from individual to individual and tribe to tribe. Rather constant
ingredients include members of the moonseed family, Menispermaceae, a group of lianas
often endowed with powerful muscle relaxants, including one that is the source of the
myorelaxant tubocurarine used in modern medicine, especially in open heart surgery.
Probably the most common moonseed ingredient is the "ampi huasca", Chondrodendron
tomentosum. Skins cf poison-dart frogs, common on the forest floor, are often utilized in
the mixture. Ants are sometimes added around Iquitos.
Enrique, the Yagua gentleman who has demonstrated his incredible accuracy with the
blowgun, capable of hitting a monkey at 30 meters, usually has a kapok bag fashioned
from the "chambira" palm, Astrocaryum chambira. To this, he usually has affixed a
monkey call, fashioned from a hollow monkey or bird bone.
: t'.
')
,,.
?'.
----
CARVE ovr MIDDLe
Our dictionary is alphabetized by scientific name (in italics), followed by the author. Then
comes the family name, followed by local names in quotation marks and occasionally an
English name, in bold face. Finally we provide succinct comments on use. Interspersed
with the utilitarian notes are three-letter abbreviations, indicating our major sources.
POISON and TOXIC have been capitalized as a warning. We do not endorse self-diagnosis
and self-medication. If an author said a plant was purgative we used histher words citing
our source. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of our sources, but we have tried to cite
them faithfully. The reader is advised to view this as folklore, which may or may not prove
out.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the Spanish version, Vasquez cited the specialists and herbaria involved with
identifications of his specimens, and provided his introduction to the Spanish version, along
with all his references. The reader is referred to that version for Vasquez's
acknowledgments of the taxonomists, ethnobotanists, botanists and scientists of other
disciplines whose works laid the foundation for this Amazonian Dictionary. In adding to
Rodolfo's compilation, I eliminated some of Rodolfo's citations, e.g., all herbarium
collections and some references. These details can be found in the Spanish version, a copy
of which will be deposited at USDA's National Agricultural Library. I used three-letter
abbreviations, like RVM, to indicate the sources of information. Important sources include
ALG (various papers and personal communications of the late Dean of Amazonian
"Diversitologists" and Botanists, A1 Gentry), AYA (Ayala), BDS (Branch and daSilva, Rio
Ragajos, Brazil, 1983), CAA (Cayon & Aristizabal, 1980), CRC (my own CRC
Handbooks), DAD (Duke and ducellier, 1993), DAT (Denevan and Tracy, 1987), DAW
(Duke and Wain, 1981), F A 0 (Food and Agriculture Organization, 1986), FBL (F. Bruce
Lamb), FEO (V. de Feo. Fitoterapia 63:417-440), FNF (Father Nature's Farmacy), FOR
(Forero), GAB (Garcia-Bamga), GAV (Gentry and Vasquez), GMJ (Grenand, Moretti and
Jacquemin), HAC (Hitchcock and Chase), IIC (Leon, 1987), JAD (my own books and
personal observations), JBH (J. B. Harbome's Phytochemical Dictionary, 1993), JFM
(Julia Morton), JLH (Jonathan Hartwell's Plants Used Against Cancer), HHB (Hager's
Handbook), LAE (Lewis and Elvin-Lewis), LAW (Little and Wadsworth), MAC
(Macbride's Flora of Peru), MAR (Mors & Rizzini), MJB (Michael Balick's various palm
papers and books), MJP (Mark J. Plotkin, 1993), MVA (MM. Vilmorin-Andrieux), NIC
(Nicole Maxwell), PEA (Perez-Arbelaez), PKD (Peggy Kessler Duke), POV (Poveda),
RAF (Ramon Ferreyra, 1970), RAR (R. A. Rutter, 1990), RBI (Florula de las Reserva
Biologicas de Iquitos), RVM (Rodolfo Vasquez Martinez), SAR (Schultes and Raffauf),
SOU (Soukup, 1970), TRA (Tramil), VAG (Vasquez and Gentry), VAM (Valdizan and
Maldonado, 1922), VDF (V. de Feo, 1991), and WOI (Wealth of India).
In the January class of 1993 was my daughter Celia Larsen, savoring the Amazon for the
first time, and like me, enamored of what she saw. Her biggest contribution was to force
me to recognize the gender issue, and add the feminine stanza to "Paradise Lost", and the
9 sign to flag those herbs more important to women. After all, she said, most of the
ecotour groups have more women than men, a ratio not yet reflected among the mostly
male guides and instructors. More importantly, most of the ethnobotanical writings on
female health issues were by foreign men, interpreting native men in turn interpreting
native women. Clearly, as the Lewises indicate, the gender issue has not received the
attention it deserves.
This book would have been impossible without all the scientists and Amerindians who
preceeded us and their contribution to our efforts to save the forest through rational and
sustained utilization and conservation of the forest species. With sincere but inadequate
gratitude, the book is specifically dedicated to Antonio, Loro, Lucio, Narciso, Rodolfo,
and Segundo, and their ancestors who augmented our empirical knowledge of forest foods
and medicines. And foremost to A1 Gentry, who lost his life, trying to tie it all together
taxonomically.
JIM DUKE
Hoping to help satisfy the thirst for knowledge welling up in all scientists, I set out several
years ago to catalogue for posterity the Useful Plants of Amazonian Peru. I wanted to
consolidate under one cover the scattered information about ethnobotany of the area. I
hoped to provide information about local uses and colloquial names of wild and cultivated
plants. To city dwellers, the forest is remote and vague, perhaps something to be feared.
With this book, I hope to show that the Amazonian forest, properly utilized, can be the
friend of (wo)mankind, by no means its enemy. By enumerating all the diverse uses to
which the forest is put, I hope to enhance chances for conservation of this irreplaceable
resource, which has provided native Americans with sustenance for some 12,000 years.
In this initial effort, I hopellly covered most uses of the more important species. Much
remains to be done. We treat here only some 20% of the flora of the area. In compiling
this document, I hope to show that Peruvians are interested in studying Peruvian plants and
their ethnobotany, and to encourage collaboration among the many concerned agencies, not
only to study, but to save, for the future of Peru and the World at large, this magnificent
Amazonian forest.
Alchornea triplinervia (Spreng.) Muell. Arg. Euphorbiaceae. " Zancudo caspi " ,
"Mojarra caspi". Wood used for temporary c~nstruction,possibly for paper pulp (RVM).
"Witotos" use the leaves for diarrhea (SAR).
Anthuriurn fosteri Croat sp. nov. ined. Araceae. "Jerg6n quiro". The "Boras" bum
the leaves to obtain salt (DAT).
Anthurium pentaphyllurn G . Don. Araceae. "Nea niti raow. Leaf decoction for
arthritic rheumatism around Pucallpa (VDF).
Apeiba aspera Aubl. ssp. rnernbranacea (Spruce) Meijer & Setser. Tiliaceae.
"Llausaquiro", "Maquizapa iiaccha". Bark used as rope, fruits in handicrafts.
Fig. 23. Anthodiscus pilosus (
Arrabidaea chica (HBK) Verlot. Bignoniaceae. "Puca panga". Fresh leaves used
in decoction alone or mixed with the fruits of Renealmia alpinia to dye fibers of
Astrocaryum chambira or to make tattoos. This dye is also used to treat skin infections and
herpes (RAR). Leaves also used as antiinflammatory. "Chami" from Risaralda extract the
red tint to dye baskets (RVM). "Tikuna" use leaf infusion for conjunctivitis (SAR). Achual
"Jivaros" chew the leaves with clay to blacken the teeth (SAR). Tapajos residents use leaf
tea for anemia, blood disorders, inflammation.
Arthrostylidium sp. Poaceae. "Carricillo". The split stems are used in basketry.
Asplundia spp. Cyclanthaceae. "Puspo tamshi". Many species are used as ropes,
and in basketry.
Astrocaryum jauari Mart. Arecaceae. "Huiririma". The seed is edible; from the
leaf buds they extract fiber.
-B-
Bactris brongniartii Mart. Arecaceae. "fiejilla". Fruits edible, leaves used for
thatch (RAR) .
Bactris concinna Mart. Arecaceae. "fiejilla" .Fruits edible. Wood used for carving
Bambusa superba (Huber) McClure. Poaceae. "Marona", " Chingana". The canes
are used to build fences, to make flutes; the internode of the stalk is used to store small
things.
Bauhinia glabra Jacq. Fabaceae. "Motelo huasca". Stem infusion used by the
Huallaga to treat pulmonary diseases (RVM).
9 Bidens pilosa L. Asteraceae. "Amor seco" "Cadillo", "Chilca", "Isha sheta rao",
"Pacunga", "Pirco", "Dried love". Chewing or gargling may help angina and sores in the
mouth; infusions used as emmenagogue, antidysenteric, and to alleviate chills. Decoction
mixed with lemon juice for angina, sore throat, water retention, hepatitis, dropsy.
Sometimes mixed with aguardiente and milk (SOU). In Piura, the root decoction is used
for alcoholic hepatitis and worms (FEO). Around Pucallpa, the leaf is balled up and
applied to toothache. Leaves also used for headache VDF. In Brazil it is used as a diuretic
and to treat jaundice. In the Philippines, flowers, mixed with cooked rice, are fermented
to make an alcoholic beverage. In Tonga the infusion of the flowers is used to treat upset
stomach in food poisoning. The "Exumas" grind sun-dried leaves and mix them with olive
oil to make poultices for sores and lacerations. "Cuna" mix the crushed leaves with water
to treat headaches (RVM). Used for aftosa, angina, diabetes, dysentery, dysmenorrhea,
edema, hepatitis, jaundice, laryngitis, worms (RAR).
.
Brosimum rubescens Taubert. Moraceae. "Palisangre" Wood used for handicrafts,
forked poles, posts, dormers, and to make decorative plaques. "Yaguas* use the wood to
carve a mythological representation called "mayantu". Heartwood mixed with aguardiente
to fortify the body after child birth. In Peru wood used to build the gigantic cross in 1985,
to honor the visit of the pope Juan Pablo I1 (RVM).
Brosimum utile (HBK) Pittier ssp. longifolium (Ducke) C.C. Berg. Moraceae.
"Machinga", "Chingonga". The wood is used to make plaques, in lumbers, in rustic
carpentry and indoor building. The latex is used to adulterate better quality latices. Wood
also used for pulp and plaques. Some Colombian natives drink the latex with sugar water
as a tonic (RVM, SAR). Bark used for asthma and other lung ailments (SAR). Brazilians
drink a w e latex for fever (BDS).
Q Brownea ariza Benth. Fabaceae. "Rosa del monte" (Wild rose), "Palo cruz".
Loreto's finest wood is used to make canes, rulers, parquets, and small objects. Considered
hemostatic (RVM). "Siona" use flowers in emetic hemostat teas for excessive menstruation
(SAR). i
Bursera graveolens (HBK.) Trel. Burseraceae. " Carana", "Palo santo " . Twigs
chewed for toothache; boiled as depurative, febrifuge, and sedative. Resin massaged in for
headache and rheumatism (FEO). Used in amulets against shamanism (RAR).
Byrsonima coriacea (Sw) DC. var. spicata (Cav.) Ndz. Malpighiaceae. "Indano
colorado". The astringent bark is used for dysentery. Fruit edible.
Cabralea canjerana (Vel.) Mart. Meliaceae. "Cedro macho". Wood excellent for
carpentry, used like Cedrela odorata. Bark is used to reduce fever. The decoction of some
meliaceous fruits is used as insecticide, hazardous for domestic animals (SOU). (Fig. 40)
Caladium bicolor (Ait.) Vent. Araceae. "Corazbn de J d s " , "Jesus's heart ",
"Oreja de perro", "Dog's ear". Cultivated ornamental. "Wayiipi", superstitious about this
plant, use it for love potions and amulets (GMf). Febrifuge (RAR).
Calathea gigar Gagn. Marantaceae. "Wira bijao del bajo". Leaves are used by
fishermen to line baskets, helping keep fish fresh. Leaves used as thatch (RVM).
Caraipa densifolia ssp. densifolia Mart. Clusiaceae. "Brea caspi". Wood used in
house construction, beams, poles, columns, decks, etc. Leaves reportedly aphrodisiac; stem
latex used for herpes, dermatitis, eczema, itch, and impetigo. The product "6leo de
tamakour&", extracted from this plant, is used in various skin diseases, rheumatism,
corneous ulcers, and pediculosis (RVM).
Caraipa tereticaulis Tul. Clusiaceae. "Brea caspi", "Aceite caspi blanco". Wood
used for construction.
Caraipa utilis Vasquez. Clusiaceae. "Aceite caspi negro". Wood used in house
construction; decks, beams, posts. This is the main wood used in house construction
around Iquitos.
Casearia sylvestris SW. Flacourtiaceae. "Ucho caspi". Brazil's "Karajii" drink the
bark maceration for diarrhea (RVM).
Cassia bacillaris L. Fabaceae. "Mataro chico". Flower infusion used to wash the
swollen muscles caused by trauma. Green fruit crushed and poulticed onto infected
wounds. Tip of the fruit cut and squeezed onto small wounds (RVM).
Cassia loretensis Killip & Macbr. Fabaceae. "Mataro grande". Same uses as C.
bacillaris.
Castilla ulei Warb. Moraceae. "Caucho". Fruit edible (VAG). Latex yields a gum
used in the plastic industries. Vaupes Indians apply the latex to wounds, as a protective
coating (SAR). (Fig. 62)
Cattleya spp. Orchidaceae. "Orquidia". Orchids of this genus and Laelia are the
most valued ornamental orchids, followed by others such as: Odontoglossum, Miltonia,
Qmbidium, Oncidium, Epidendrum, and Maxillaria; other genera from the Old World as
Vanda, Phaleonopsis, and Dendrobium, are rarely cultivated.
Cedrela flssilis Vell. Meliaceae. "Cedro blanw", "White cedar". Wood for
lumber, decorative plaques (RVM). Used as abortifacient and urinary astringent (RAR).
Cissus erosa L. Vitaceae. "Navama". Leaf decoction used in washes for arthritis
(VDF).
n
Fig. 70. Chrysophyllum caimito (IIC)
Cordia nodosa Lam. Boraginaceae. "Aiiallo caspi". Edible fruit. Leaves poulticed
on snakebite. "Wayiipi" use bark decoction for lung ailments and chest colds (GMJ).
Vaupes natives use leaf paste to kill bot flies (SAR).
Costus arnazonicus (Loes.) McBr. ssp. krukovii Maas. Costaceae. "Iwajyu". The
stalk provides drinking water (DAT).
0 Costus arabicus L. Costaceae. "Caiiagre", "Bitter cane". Almost all Costus and
Dimerocostus are used to reduce internal fever, cough, bronchitis, laryngitis, pharyngitis,
and tonsilitis; also used in gargles for mouth sores. "Crhles" use decoction of stems or
bulbs for leucorrhea. Stem infusion also used for blennorrhea. Stem juice mixed with
honey for cough, colds, and whooping cough (GMJ).
Costus cylindricus Jacq. Costaceae. "Bocon taco", "Caiia agria". Used for
inflammations, e.g. gastritis and vaginitis, around Pucallpa VDF.
Costus longibracteolatus Maas. Costaceae. "Iwajyu". "Boras" use for cough and
fever (DAT).
0 Costus scaber R.& P. Costaceae. "Caiiagre". Natives use for liver diseases
(SOU). "Cuna" use the root decoction for stomachaches and snakebite. The "Waunana"
drink the juice from the decoction of the leaves and flowers to get rid of intestinal worms.
"WaySipi" use the flower decoction in douches for vaginal infections. "Crwles" use it like
C. arabicus (GMJ). (Fig. 76)
Couepia paraensis (Mart. & Zucc.) Benth. ssp. glaucescens (Spr. ex Hook.)
Prance. Chrysobalanaceae. "Parinari". For dormers and posts.
.
Crepidospermum prancei Daily. Burseraceae. "Copal blanco" Arilb edible
(VAG).
Crotalaria retusa L. Fabaceae. "Frejol del tunchi " , "Witches bean". "Crwles use
leaf and flower decoction to prepare a cold remedy. "Way?ipiWeat the fresh seeds as an
analgesic when bitten by scorpions (GMJ).
Croton cajucara Benth. in Hook. Euphorbiaceae. Bark tea used in Amazonia for
diabetes, diarrhea, and inflamed liver. Methanol extracts reduce growth of Pectinophora
gossypiella. Antigrowth activity of the new norditerpene, cisdehydrocrotonin, proved
similar to that of trans-dehydrocrotoninagainst P. gossypiella and Heiothis virescens. With
rat hepatocytes, the methanol extract showed hepatotoxicity rather than hepatoprotective
activity. Thus it might be counterindicated in hepatitis. (PC30{8):2545-2546. 1991)
9 Cyperus luzulae L. Cyperaceae. "Piripiri". "Chami" mash the plant in cold water,
and take for diarrhea and stomachaches (RVM). "Tikunas" used crushed fruits to induce
labor (SAR).
Cyperus sp. Cyperaceae. "Tobi uaste". Rhizome poulticed onto rheumatic pain
(VDF).
Cyphomandra hartwegii Dunal. Solanaceae. "Asna panga", "Gallinazo panga",
"Tree tomato". Fruits edible. "Wayiipi" use the decoction for baby baths to protect the
infant against progressive weakness, caused by baby having direct contact with father right
after birth (the father had killed a wild animal, violating a taboo) (GMJ).
Cyphomandra obliqua Dunal. Solanaceae. " Cupa sacha", "Poshno rao" Around.
Pucallpa, used as an ecchymotic resolvent. Also used in febrifugal baths (VDF).
Davilla kunthii St. Hil. Dilleniaceae. "Paujil chaqui". Stems contain potable water.
They cut a one-meter section of the stem and stand it vertically, the water then flowing.
Desrnodiurn axillare (Sw) Kuntze. Fabaceae. "Amor seco", "Pega pega". Similar
to D. adscendens.
.
Diclidanthera penduliflora Polygalaceae. "Coto huayo" Edible fruit. (Fig. 90)
Diodia sp. Rubiaceae. "Ai pana" Leaves used in head baths for gastritis around
Pucallpa (VDF).
Diospyros sp. Ebenaceae. "Caimitillo". Fruit edible fresh. "Cuna" drink the root
decoction to treat stomachaches (RVM).
Diplotropis martiusii Benth. Fabaceae. "Chonta quiro". Wood for posts, forked
poles, keel plates for boats, and dormers (RVM). "Kubws" use powdered leaves with yuca
flour for hematochezia (SAR). Leaf ash mixed with coca leaves (SAR).
-
7
Fig. 97. Duguetia odorata (GAV)
Drymonia pendula (Poepp) Wiehl. Gesneriaceae. "Delia". Ornamental.
Duguetia hadrantha (Diels) Fries. Annonaceae. "Tortuga caspi" .Wood for beams,
decks, and columns.
Duguetia latifolia R.E.Fries. Annonaceae. "Tortuga caspi". Wood for decks and
columns (RVM).
Duguetia odorata Macbr. Annonaceae. "Tortuga caspi". Wood for beams, decks,
wood strips and sheets. (Fig. 97)
Duguetia quitarensis Benth. Annonaceae. "Tortuga caspi". Wood for beams and
decks (RVM).
Duguetia spirina Mart. Annonaceae. "Tortuga caspi". Wood for beams and decks
(RVM). "Tikunas" use the tea of leaves and bark to wash leg ulcers (SAR).
Duguetia stenantha R.E.Fries. Annonaceae. "Tortuga caspi". Wood for beams and
decks. Clean wood is used for interior decorations. Fruit edible (RVM).
Duguetia tessmannii R.E. Fries. Annonaceae. "Tortuga caspi". Wood for beams
and decks (RVM).
Duroia hirsuta (Poepp. & Engl.) Schum. Rubiaceae. "Huitillo del supay". These
shrubs, associated with ants, grow in small homogeneous stands called "Supay chacra"
(Devil's fields). Other plant species with ant symbioses: Cecropia spp., Cordia nodosa,
Toccoca spp., and Triplaris spp. The soil around Duroia is usually free of weeds, possibly
because of the ants. Gentry and Blaney (pers. comm.) think it may be due to secretions or
micro-organisms associated with the ants that prevent the growing of weeds and other
plants. The forked stakes are occasionally used in construction. Rural people, superstitious
about the "Supay chacra", avoid walking nearby. Some rural Colombians chew the fruits
to prevent dental caries (RVM). "Waoranis" rub the ant pheromones inside their cheeks
for oral aphthae (SAR). Putumayo natives bind a bark strip on the arm, both staining and
scarring the area (SAR). (Fig. 98)
Duroia paraensis Ducke. Rubiaceae. "Pampa remo caspi". Wood for beams and
decks (RVM).
Duroia saccifea (Mart.) Schum. Rubiaceae. "Hormiga caspi" . Fruit edible cooked
(VAG).
Ecclinusa lanceolata (M.&E.) Pierre. Sapotaceae. "Balata". Fruit edible. Wood
for rural construction; latex for gum industry (RVM).
Eleutherine plicata Herb. Iridaceae. "Picuru inchi". Peruvians regard the seed as
antidiarrhetic, antidysenteric, hemostat, vulnerary (RAR); bulb grated into tea for
stomachache or dysentery (BDS).
Entada polyphylla Benth. Fabaceae "Pashaco". Bark yields a yellow resin used for
dyeing leather black (MAC).
Erythroxylum coca var. coca. Erythroxylaceae. "Coca". Leaves chewed for "aire";
ecocted for parturition and respiratory ails, poulticed for headache, rheumatism (FEO).
Coca leaf is described by Plotkin as "one of the world's most effective medicinal plants,
particularly valuable for the treatment of stomachache and altitude sickness" (MJP). In a
study of 15 nutrients, coca leaves were compared with the average of 50 Latin American
foods. Per 100 g, coca was higher in: calories 305 in coca, vs. 279 units of the average
on the 50 foods; proteins 18.9 g vs. 11.4 g; carbohydrates 46.2 g vs 37.1 g; fiber 14.4 g vs
3.2 g; calcium 1,540 mg vs. 99 mg; phosphate 911 mg vs 279 mg; iron 45.8 mg vs 3.6 mg;
vitamin A 11,000 IU vs 135 IU, and riboflavin 1.91 mg vs 0.16 mg (RVM). Phytochemicals
occuring in the four narcotic varieties of coca are detailed in Duke (1992b). Cocaine yields
(in dried leaves) 0.63 96 in Erythroxylum coca var. coca; some other authors report 0.96 %
cocaine from the coca coming from Chinchao, (Huanuco), 0.25% for E. coca var. ipadu;
0.77 96 for E. novogranatense var. novogranatense; 0.72 % for E. novogranatense var.
t r u x i l h e ; a sample collected by Plowman (#5600) in Trujillo contained 1.02% cocaine
(RVM).
Euterpe sp. Arecaceae. "Huasahi del varillal". The buds are edible.
Duke coined the word suriculture in 1992 for the cultivation of what Peruvians call "suri",
grubs or larvae of the palm beetle (Rhynchophoruspalmarum). He suggested that using the
95%+ of palm-heart palm (that is wasted) to produce edible protein (entomophagous
delicacy) could give a "green" seal of approval to the palm heart industry. Some
entrepreneurs say that the palm-heart industry is sustainable for centuries. Many botanists
disagree. Clearly, more than 95% of the palm is wasted when a palm heart is harvested,
renewably in certain species of Bactris, destructively in the Euterpe we have enjoyed
around Iquitos.
Many interesting questions need answers. Could we sustainably harvest both palm
hearts and protein? Could the waste palm be piled up on the soil, or in pits, and used for
larval production? Can the larvae be cultivated in untumed piles or pits? What are the
temperature tolerances of the larvae? Would beetles lay eggs on decaying palm debris.
Would they lay in the waste of any palm? (How about the famous hat palm, not a true
palm? Ivory Palm? Thatch Palm? Stilt Palm?). Does urinating on the palm really attract
the Rhynchophorus. How long will the larvae stay alive for shipment in palm mulch? How
long will smoked sun remain wholesome unrefrigerated under ambient tropical conditions?
Would suri be legal imports into the US? Would an environmental impact statement be
necessary and worthwhile? Do the larvae contain squalene or any of the "healing"
zoochemicals alleged for shark cartilage?
The Yanomamo Indians fell trees deliberately to provide fodder for the larvae.
When they cut the tree, they eat the palm heart. One large palm can yield up to 50 pounds
palm heart. A palm trunk can yield three or four pounds of grubs. There are descriptions
of excellent palm "butter" made by melting and clarifying the fat of the larvae. Smoked
larva in the Food Composition Table for Use in Africa (#1099) is reported to contain
20.4% water, 62.3% protein, 4.6% fat, 6.5% carbohydrate, 2.2% fiber; 6.2% ash and,
per 100 g, 513 mg Ca, 471 mg P., 6.9 mg Fe, 0 mg beta-carotene, 0.1 mg thiamin, 0.12
mg riboflavin, 4.2 mg niacin and 0 mg ascorbic acid. Dried larva (#1097) is reported at,
per 100 g edible portion, 430 calories, 7.8-10.1 % water, 51.1-54.9% protein, 13.8-17.5%
fat, 16.9 % carbohydrate, 1.4-7.4 % fiber, 3.8-8.4 % ash, 124-270 mg Ca, 142-854 mg P,
2-3 mg Fe, 50 yg beta-carotene (?), 0.09-0.35 mg thiamin, 0.18-2.87 mg riboflavin; 3.8-
11.2 mg niacin and 0 mg ascorbic acid.
Our summary of the literature suggests that 100 g of larvae could supply twice the
RDA for thiamin, 1.5 times the RDA for zinc, 1.3 times the RDA for riboflavin, about
70% of copper and iron requirements, 40% of niacin, 30% of phosphorus, ca 20% of
protein and calcium, but less than 10% of daily requirements of magnesium. Insect fatty
acids, in general, are highly unsaturated.
We need more precise analytical data, not only on palm beetle larvae, but also on
palm hearts, and other palm products. We could surely devise a nutritionally complete
package based solely 'on renewable palm products, a TV-dinner or Palm Sunday Brunch,
if we include the "suri". We think that the MUFA's, tocotrienols and beta-carotene make
palm oils more attractive as health-food items than the North American press would have
us believe. Oil palm is the best reported source of tocotrienols which some scientists regard
as better than tocopherol in Vitamin E antioxidant activity. Duke has proposed an ACEER
Amazonian Antioxidant salad dressing embracing wholesome Amazonian palm oils (best
sources of tocotrienols and MUFA's and good source of beta-carotene), brazilnut (best
source of selenium) camu-camu (best source of vitamin C), chile (best source of
capsaicin), and puree of beans (good source of genistein). Try renewable palm hearts,
drenched in antioxidant salad dressing, with a few smoked suri, hopefully contributing to
Faramea anisocalyx Poepp. & Endl. Rubiaceae. "Sanango". Leticia natives use
the bark decoction as an emetic in food poisoning (SAR).
Q Faramea occidentalis (L.) A.Rich. Rubiaceae. "Caballo sanango". "Cuna" use the
root decoction to stop menstrual hemorrhages, by taking two cups a day; one in the
morning, and one at night (RVM).
Ficus insipida Willd. var. insipida Moraceae. "OjB", "Doctor ojB". Locals take
latex as vermifuge, drinking one cup fresh mixed with orange juice, or with sugar cane
juice. Those who take this purge must avoid greasy and salty foods for a week; they can
not receive direct sun, and must avoid being seen by strangers to the family. Those not
following this diet become "overo" (with white skin pigmentation) (RVM). Pucallpa
residents rub the latex onto rheumatic inflammations (VDF). "Cuna" mix some latex with
a liter of water, and drink some of this mixture every other day to get rid of intestinal
parasites. In Piura, the leaf decoction is used for anemia and tertian fever. Contains
phyllosanthine, beta-amyrin or lupeol; lavandulol, phyllanthol, and eloxanthine (AYA).
(Fig. 108)
Ficus maxima Miller. Moraceae. "Sacha ojBM,"Sacha oj6 del cauchero". Bark
pounded to make cloth. "Campas" use the tree as a blind when hunting game animals
(RVM). "Wayiipi" use the latex as an antirrheumatic (GMJ).
Ficus paraensis Miq. Moraceae. "Renaco". "Way5pi" for diarrhea; "Palikur", for
infected wounds (GMJ). "Makunas" and "Puinaves" use the latex for worms (SAR).
Ficus radula Willd. Moraceae. "Yanchama caspi". "Witoto" mix the latex with
mud for stomachache (SAR). Mixed with yuca flour, it is packed into painful caries and
wounds (SAR). Used to make bark cloth (RAR).
Ficus yoponensis Desv. Moraceae. "Oj6 de hoja menuda*, "OjB macho". The
bark, removed carefully after pounding, is dried and used as a canvas to paint amazonian
scenes, sold as crafts. Latex ingested, as F. insipida, for diarrhea and worms (SAR).
.
Geophila repens (L.) I . M. Johnston. Rubiaceae. "Poroto huangunillo" "Palikur"
use the fruit to treat dermatosis; very effective as an antimycosic (RVM). "Ketchwa" also
use it for fungal infection (SAR). In Fiji, it is even used for leprosy (DAW).
Gnetum leyboldi Tul. Gnetaceae. "Bala huayo", "Hambre huayo", "Paujil ruro".
Seeds edible roasted.
Goupia glabra Aubl. Celastraceae. "Muena rifarillo". Very goodquality wood has
multiple uses, including rural construction, beams,and decks. Juices from macerated leaves
used for eye disorders (RVM). "Crhles" use bark decoction as an oral analgesic (GMJ).
"Andokes" use leaf decoction for cataracts and to dye the skin and hair (SAR).
Guarea cinnarnonea A. Juss. Meliaceae. "Requia". The saw wood is used for
general construction.
Guarea gomma Pulle. Meliaceae. "Requia". Timber used for decks and columns
(RVM). Bark decoction used by "Palikur" as an emetic, and for liver diseases (GMJ).
Guarea grandifolia D.C. Meliaceae. "Bola requia". Wood used for columns.
"Waygpi" believe that adding a drop of toxic sap from the trunk increases the alcoholic
level of their cassava chicha (GMJ).
0 Guarea guidonia (L.) Sleumer. Meliaceae. "Requia", "Latapi" . Wood used for
beams, etc. Early authors believed this plant very TOXIC and dangerous. Women of San
Martin use the decoction in enemas to increase fertility (RVM). Hispaniolans use the plant
for enterorrhagia (DAW).
Guarea kunthiana A. Juss. Meliaceae. "Requia", "Paujil ruro". The wood is used
for beams and decks and sometimes sawwood.
Heliconia chartacea Lane ex Bar. Musaceae. "Situlli". Leaves are generally used
for wrapping, occasionally for roofing. All Heliconias could be used as ornamentals
(RVM).
.
Heliconia episcopalis Velloz. Musaceae. " Situlli" As preivous species.
Heliconia hirsuta L.f. Musaceae. "Millua situlli". Leaves for wrapping and
roofing (RVM). "Tatuyos" eat and make a fermented beverage with the root (SAR).
Heliconia spp. Loes. Musaceae. "Sutilli". Ornamental; leaves for roofing and
wrapping.
Helicostylis tomentosa (Poepp. & Endl.) Rusby. Moraceae. "Misho chaqui". Seed
edible roasted or cooked. Inner bark used as an hallucinogen; in experimental rats, the
effects are similar to symptoms produced by Cannabis (SAR).
Hemarthria altissima (Poir.) Stapf & Hubb. Poaceae. "Gram playa". Forage
(RVM).
Hieronima sp. Euphorbiaceae. "Mojarra caspi". Wood for lumber, used for
construction of interiors.
Himatanthus lancifolia (Muel1.-Arg) Woods. Apocynaceae. "Socoban. Bark
decoction used for fever near Pucallpa (VDF).
Hymenolobium sp. Fabaceae. "Mari mari". The wood is used for forked poles,
posts, jam posts for bridges, parquets and handicrafts.
Hyptis brevipes Poit. Lamiaceae. " T i p " . Used for gastritis and inflammation
around Pucallpa (VDF).
Hyptis capitata Jacq. Coll. Lamiaceae. "Cadi110 cabezon". Used in Ecuador for
fungal infections (in Taiwan for asthma, colds, fever), the aerial parts contain the
antioxidant rosmarinic acid, oleanolic-acid, and ursolic acid, stigmasterol, 10-epi-olguine,
and 2,3-di(3',4'-methylenedioxybenzy1)-2-butenlide, a lignan, and apigenin-4',7'-
dimethyl-ether. No alkaloids. Crude extracts showed little fungicidal or insecticidal activity.
(PC 30(8):2753-6. 1991).
Hptis recurvata Poit. Lamiaceae. "Albaquilla". The leaves are used in baths by
the "Boras" to reduce fever (DAT).
Ichnanthus pallens (Sw.) Munro ex Benth. Poaceae. "Nudillo". Forage grass.
Imperata tenuis Hack. Poaceae. "Grama dulce", "Colch6n quihua". For forage.
When young, this plant is used to stuff mattresses. Rhizome infusion is diuretic (RVM).
Indigofera sufiuticosa Mill. Fabaceae. "Aiiil " , "Indigo". Root decoction used to
clean infected wounds. Seeds used by the "Aztecas" to treat urinal problems and ulcers;
leaves poulticed on forehead for fever. Plant used for syphilis. Also said to be antipyretic,
vulnerary, purgative, antispasmodic, diuretic, for upset stomach; favorite local remedy for
epilepsy (PCS). In Ambo cream of indigo mixed with vinegar for scorpion bites (SOU).
Inga alba (Sw.) Willd. Fabaceae. "Shimbillo". Fruits edible. Good firewood.
Inga aria Benth. Fabaceae. "Shimbillo". Fruit edible; wood for firewood.
Inga cinnamomea Sp. ex Benth. Fabaceae. "Vaca paleta". Fruit edible (VAG).
lnga edulis Mart. Fabaceae. "Guaba", "Ice cream bean". Cultivated fruit tree,
the white pulp around the seeds eaten. (Fig. 125)
.
Inga gracilifolia Ducke. Fabaceae. "Shimbillo" Fruit edible (VAG).
Inga pilosula (Rich) Mcbr. Fabaceae. "Purma shimbillo". Fruit edible (VAG).
Inga plumifera Spr. ex Benth. Fabaceae. "Coto shimbillo". Fruit edible (VAG).
Inga spectabilis (Vh) Willd. Fabaceae. "Pacae colombiano". Fruit edible (VAG).
9 Isertia hypoleuca Benth. Rubiaceae. "Azar quiro". Some ranchers let it grow in
the pastures to provide shade for cattle (RVM). Around Iquitos, leaf tea, with papaya
leaves, used for dysmenorrhea (SAR). "Tikuna" use the bark for malaria. "Taiwano" drink
hot diaphoretic leaf tea for fever (SAR). Hartwell mentions its use for tumors (JLH).
Leaves contain alpha-amyrin, sitosterol and taraxasterol (SAR). (Fig. 128)
Jacaratia digitata (Poepp. & Endl.) Solms-Laubach. Caricaceae. "Papaya caspi ",
"Papaya del venado", "Shamburi", "Tree papaya". Latex used as cicatrizant and
vermifuge. Fruits edible cooked. Some farmers prune the plants for Coleoptera to lay eggs,
so they can harvest the larvae. "Campas" use the tree as a blind, when they hunt large
animals (RVM). (Fig. 130)
Leonia crassa Smith & Fernandez. Violaceae. "Tamara blanca". Ripe fruits used
as a fishbait.
Leonia glycicalpa R.& P. Violaceae. "Tamara", "Nina caspi". The fresh leaves
left in the sun or lightly warmed, are poulticed, as an emollient, for abscesses, tumors, and
phlegm. Fruit pulp used for hemorrhoids, seeds for pulmonary diseases (RVM).
Licaria triandra (Sw) Kost. Lauraceae. "Canela moena". Wood for carpentry and
canoes.
Lippia alba (Mill.) N.E.Br. Verbenaceae. "Pampa orkgano". Curanderos mix with
other plants to bathe patients during magic rituals; also used to relieve vomiting and upset
stomach (RVM). "Crwles" use the leaf infusion with sugar to sooth cardiac pain. The leaf
decoction is relaxant and soporific (GMJ). "Tikuna" wash headache with the crushed leaves
in water (SAR). Mixed with Mentha, leaves are used for diarrhea (SAR). Brazilians use
the leaf tea for stomachache (BDS).
Luziola subintegra Sw. Poaceae. "Gram". Forage grass especially for water
buffalos.
Lycopersicum esculentum Mill. Solanaceae. "Tomate", "Tomato". Cultivated
vegetable.
Maclura tinctoria (L.) Gaud. Moraceae. "Insira", "Insira amarilla". Fruits edible.
Wood occasionally used in carpentry. Cotton soaked in the latex is used to relieve
toothaches. An olive green dye is derived from the plant. Because it contains phloroglucin
and gallic acid, it is probably antiseptic and astringent. Moringin is also antiseptic (AYA).
This species also works as diuretic and anti-venereal. Highly recommended for urinary
infections like blennorrhea. Colombians soak latex in 'cotton' of Ochroma pyramidale or
Ceiba samauma, using it as a filling. Latex removes teeth, whether carious or healthy,
without pain and bleeding (NIC). Used by the "Chami" for 1umber.Considered analgesic,
diuretic, purgative; used for cough, gout, pharyngitis, rheumatism, sore throat, syphilis
(RAN.
Macoubea guianensis Aubl. Apocynaceae. "Loro micuna", "Jarabe huayo".
Timber. Tree used as a blind when hunting game birds (RVM). Fruit pulp edible (SAR).
Latex serves as chewing gum (SAR). Amazonian Brazilians use the latex for lung ailments
(SAR). (Fig. 142)
Malachra alceifolia Jacq. Malvaceae. "Malva". Leaves used for nephritis and
stomachache (RVM). (Fig. 143)
Mauritia carana Wallace. Arecaceae. "Aguaje del varillal". Fruit edible (RVM).
Mezilaurus itauba (Meissn.) Taub. ex Mez. Lauraceae. "Itauba". Wood used for
tables, boats, canoes, posts, decorative plaques, etc. (Fig. 154)
Mezilaurus opaca Kubit. & V.D.Werff. Lauraceae. "Itauba". Wood for lumber.
9 Miconia impetiolaris (Sw) D.Don. Melastomataceae. "Rifari". The "Cuna" use the
pulverized bark in poultice to treat sores on the breasts (FOR).
Mikania congesta DC. Asteraceae. "Sanquillo". "Crbles" use the juice of the
bruised leaves as an aperitive tonic, taking it 3 times a day. The leaf decoction is used for
malaria, and as a laxative. "Wayiipi" use leaf decoction in an antipyretic bath. "Palikur"
take the leaf decoction to stimulate bile secretion (GMJ).
Mollia lepidota Spruce ex Benth. Tiliaceae. "Achote vara". Wood used for house
construction; columns, decks, beams. Bark used as rope (RVM). Rio Apapori Indians use
bark tea for stomach problems following food poisoning (SAR).
Momtera obliqua Miq. Araceae. "Costilla de Adan", "Adam's rib". "Palikur" use
for leishmaniasis sores (GMJ).
Mucuna rostrata Benth. Fabaceae. " Vaca iiahui " , "Corpus sacha". Seed infusion
used as a diuretic, as an antidote and antihemorrhoidal. They carry seeds in case they are
bitten by a spider or a snake. The hair from the fruits is used as a mechanical vermifuge
(SOU). (Fig. 160)
Mucuna urens (L.) Medik. Fabaceae. "Vaca iiahui". "Tiriyo" use to treat
gonorrhea and migraine (RVM). Used as a vermifuge because of the mechanical action of
the stinging hairs mixed with honey (GMJ).
Nectandra globosa (Aubl.) Mez. Lauraceae. "Moena amarilla". Wood for lumber
RVM. Rio Loretoyacu natives use the bark tea for fever (SAR).
Neea divaricata Poepp. & Endl. Nyctaginaceae. "Piosha". "Achuales" chew the
fresh leaves to coat their teeth and protect them from cavities (LAE).
Neea laxa Poepp. & Endl. Nyctaginaceae. "Mesque", "Puca huayo". Leaf
decoction used in bath or poultice for gastritis (VDF).
Ocotea aciphylla (Nees) Mez. Lauraceae. "Canela muena", "Moena negra". Wood
used to make furniture, keel plates for boats and canoes.
Ocotea argyrophylla Ducke. Lauraceae. "Puspo muena". Timber used for beams,
decks, and columns.
Ocotea oblonga ssp. cuprea (Meissn.) Rohwer. Lauraceae. "Sicshi muena". Wood
used for furniture, canoes, and general construction. (Fig. 165)
.
Orthoclada laxa (L. Rich.) Beauv. Poaceae. "Ocajiniimune* White dye (DAT).
Oryza sativa L. Poaceae. "Arroz" "Rice". Cultivated. Rainfed and paddy rice
often grown in Amamnia.
Pachira insignis Sav. Bombacaceae. "Punga de altura". Wood for plaques, buoys;
bark for cordage.
Palicourea triphylla DC. Rubiaceae. "Huitillo". Mashed leaves mixed with water
to stain the body black (DAT). So regarded by "Taiwano" that they won't collect it with
a botanist (SAR). "Kuripako" use leaves as fish POISON (SAR).
Panicum pilosum Sw. Pocaeae. "Torurco". Forage grass. "Cuna" give the root
decoction to children when they lose their appetite, and don't want to drink water (FOR).
Pariana sp. Poaceae. "Shacapa". Curanderos use it rythmically in their rituals and
chants. Hollow stems for flutes (DAT).
Parkia nitida Miq. Fabaceae. "Pashaco". Wood for lumber. Bark tea for dysentery
(MJP).
Paullinia yoco Schultes & Killip. Sapindaceae. "Yoco blanco", "Huarmi yoco".
Cultivated. For fever, gall baldder, and dysentery (DAW, RAR). The bark contains 2.7%
caffeine (SAR); from the stem is extracted in cold water a stimulant which quells the pangs
of hunger; it contains hallucinogenic compounds. Schultes says you can feel the stimulant
ca 10 minutes after taking one cup, a tingling on the fingers and a nice sensation of well-
being (RVM). Used also for fever (SAR). Taken for bilious conditions following malaria
(SAR). Unlike Vasquez, Schultes says it is never cultivated and becoming scarcer near the
dwellings, perhaps endangered. "Every Indian household keeps a supply of yoco stems"
(SAR). (Fig. 177)
Pavonia fruticosa (Willd.) Fawc. & Rendle. Malvaceae. "Hierba del conejo*,
"Pega-pega". "Choc6" use as a cough suppressant (JAD). "Cuna" put roots in cold water
over night, and drink for headache (FOR).
Pharur latifolia L. Poaceae. "Puma barba", "Paujil chaqui". "Cuna" cook the
roots for a long time and drink for diarrhea, taking 2 small cups a day (FOR).
Philodendron cuneatum Engl. Araceae. "Itininga sacha". The hanging roots are
used as ropes (RVM). "Taiwano" apply the crushed leaves in fat to dermatoses (SAR).
Phytelephm sp. Areaceae. "Piasaba". Produces a fiber for brushes and brooms.
Leaves used in roofing; seeds edible.
Piper angusturn Rudge. Piperaceae. "Cordoncillo". The dried and burned leaves
are applied on infected abscesses; the leaf infusion is antiseptic.
0 Piper carpunya R.&P. Piperaceae. "Carpunya". Leaf tea taken for bronchitis and
dysmenorrhea (FEO). Analgesic (RAR).
Piper peltatum L. Piperaceae. "Santa Maria". Leaves used as table cloths, to wrap
food (RVM), and rubbed on the body as a tick repellent P A W ) . Leaf decoction used as
a diuretic, antipyretic, and emetic. The leaves passed over fire are applied directly on the
head to relieve and reduce the swelling caused by trauma and hernias. Leaf poulticed onto
sores (DAT). Believed anodyne, antiblemorrhagic, antiinflammatory, diuretic, lenitive,
pediculicidal, piscicidal, resolvent, sudorific, vermifuge (JAD, RVM). "Crhles" use it as
an antineuralgic, the leaf infusion as a sudorific (GMJ). Elsewhere used for abscesses,
bums, colds, erysipelas, headache, hepatitis, leishmaniasis, swellings, toothache and
urethritis (DAW). (Fig. 186)
Piper soledademe Trelease. Piperaceae. Amazonian Peruvians chew leaf and stem
for oral sores (SAR).
Platymiscium spp. Fabaceae. "Aiiushicumaceba". Wood used for jam posts for
bridges, dormers and posts.
Posoqueria latifolia (Rudge) Roem. & Sch. Rubiaceae. "Huitillo" , " Sacha huito" .
Fruit edible (SOU). "Cuna" drink bark infusion for diarrhea (FOR). Powdered flowers
used as a flea repellent. Febrifuge; tonic (RAR).
Pouteria neglecta Cronq. Sapotaceae. "Quinilla negra". Wood for posts, forked
poles, fence posts, and dormers.
Pouteria simulans Monach. Sapotaceae. "Quinilla blanca". Wood used like the
previous species.
Pouteria sp. Sapotaceae. "Caimitillo", "Caracha quinilla". Wood for forked poles,
posts, dormers, jam posts for bridges, parquets, and fence posts. Fruit edible (VAG).
Protium altsonii Sandw. Burseraceae. "Copal". Wood for lumber. Latex once
widely used for caulking boats; today more people use petroleum tar in caulking. For
torches (shupihui), they put some coagulated latex on a palm leaf and then light it; bright,
it gives a pleasant aroma. Latex also used for shining ceramics.
Protium grandifolium Engl. Burseraceae. "Copal", "Brea caspi". The latex is used
for caulking boats. Aril of the seed edible.
Protium hebetatum Daly. Burseraceae. "Copal carana". Wood used for lumber.
Latex gathered.
Psychotria deflexa DC. Rubiaceae. "Sananguillo". The "Cunas" put the leaves in
cold water to bathe the children, twice a day, to relieve fever (FOR).
Rollinia edulis P1. & Tr. Annonaceae. "Anona", "Anonilla". Fruit edible (RVM).
Rollinia pittieri Safford. Annonaceae. "Sacha anona". Wood used for house
construction, beams, decks.
Roucheria punctata Ducke. Linaceae. "Puma caspi". Wood used for construction,
beams, decks, and columns (RVM). "Taiwano" believe the bark decoction of the related
R. calophylla Planch. is a "sure cure" for malaria (SAR).
Salix martiana Leyboyld. Salicaceae. "Sauco" "Willow". Bark and leaves used as
sudorific antirrheumatics (RVM), both internally and as a wash (VDF). Also for
gonorrhea, hemoptysis, and worms.
Salvia occidentalis Sw. Lamiaceae. "Salvia" "Sage".Used for colic, nausea, and
flatulence.
Scheelea basleriana Burret. Arecaceae. "Shebon". Fruit and/or seeds edible (RAR,
RVM).
Scheelea cephalotes (Epp.) Karst. Arecaceae. "Shapaja". Seeds and terminal buds
edible. Small edible grubs (suri) may eat the kernel (JAD). Used for construction.
Sechium edule (Jacq.) Sw. Cucurbitaceae. "Chayote". Fruit edible (VAG). Often
cooked as a vegetable at Explorama.
Securidaca paniculata L.C. Rich. Polygalaceae. "Gallito". "WayiZpi" use the inner
film of bark (cambium) to prepare a decoction used as a dental analgesic; "Palikur" use it
to treat dermatosis (GMJ).
Simira rubescens (Benth.) Bremek. Rubiaceae. "Puca quiro" .Wood for handicrafts
and plaques. "Achuales" chew bark to prevent caries (AYA). "Boras" make a pink dye
from the bark (SAR). "Taiwano" poultice the flowers onto skin infections (SAR).
1I
Fig. 206. Setaria genicula~(HAC)
2m I
Fig. 207. Socratea emrrhiza (GAV)
Smilux ruiziana Kunth. Smilacaceae. "Mai mosha". Leaves poulticed onto arthritic
joints around Pucallpa (VDF).
Solanum grandiJ1orum R.&P. Solanaceae. "Poni ani mite", "San Pablo". Plant
used internally as antiinflammatory resolvent around Pucallpa (VDF).
Strychnos sp. Loganiaceae, "Vona muca". Branches chewed for toothache (VDF).
Swartzia simplex (Sw.) Spreng. Fabaceae. "Porotillo". "Cuna" put the fruit and
leaves in cold water, and use it for sudden cerebral pains, by washing their heads
continuously with this liquid (FOR). "Kubeo" rub boiled crushed leaves on the abdomen
four times a day for hepatitis (SAR).
Syagnrs tessmannii Burret. Arecaceae. "Bella vista", "Inchaui". Wood used for
construction and lances. Larvae living in fallen stems may be edible (RVM).
Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels. Myrtaceae. "Aceituna dulce", "Java plum", "Sweet
olive". Cultivated ornamental tree; fruit edible. (Fig. 218)
Syzygium jumbos (L.) Alst. Myrtaceae. "Pomarrosa", "Rose apple". Cultivated
for the edible fruit. Leaves, containing limonene and pinene, used for conjunctivitis, fever,
rheumatism, root for epilepsy (VAG).
Tachigali sp. Fabaceae. "Uuapa". Pucallpa natives use the leaves for headache
(VDF).
Tachigali sp. Fabaceae. "Tangarana". Wood for lumber for house construction.
V
Fig. 223. Terminalia dichotoma (GAV)
"Palikur" in baths to treat migraine headaches (GMJ). "Paumari" make a hallucinogenic
snuff from the vine (SAR).
Tapirira guianensis Aubl. Anacardiaceae. "Huira caspi " , "Jemeco" . Timber tree,
"Waygpi" use the bark to treat infants (RVM). "Taiwano" use flower tea for dysuria in the
elderly (SAR). Fruits edible (RVM). Vesicant POISON (RAR).
Tapirira retusa Ducke. Anacardiaceae. "Huira caspi", "Wira caspi". Wood for
lumber. Fruit edible (RVM).
Tectaria incisa Cav. Aspleniaceae. "Helecho". "Cuna" use cooked roots for
stomachache and hepatoses (FOR).
Trattinickia peruviana Loesn. Burseraceae. "Caraiia", " Copal caraiia" . Wood for
lumber.
Trema micrantha (L.) Blume. Ulmaceae. "Atadijo". Bark used for cordage; stems
used for fencing. The plant soaked in water makes an astringent liquid (PEA). "Cuna" use
the bark as an antipyretic for infants (FOR).
Trichilia euneura. C.DC. Meliaceae. "Bola requia". Seed maceration mixed with
aguardiente to poultice onto scabies.
Trichilia rnaynasiana C.DC. ssp. maynasiana. "Requia". Wood for lumber and
decorative plaques.
Trichomanes elegans Rich. Hymenophyllaceae. "Helecho". Ornamental.
"Waunana" rub the leaves on their hands for good luck when hunting peccary and boars
(FOR). "Choc6" use it for snakebite (JAD). Leaf infusion drunk for colds (RVM).
Uncaria tomentosa (Aubl.) Gmel. Rubiaceae. "Uiia de gato", " Cat's claw",
"Paraguayo", "Garabato", "Uiia de gavilain", "Hawk's claw". Widely used in Peru for
antiinflammatory, contraceptive, and cytostatic activities, the plant has yielded an
antiinflammatoryantiedemic glycoside (JNP54{2):453.1991). In Piura, the bark decoction,
considered antiinflammatory, antirheumatic, and contraceptive, is used in treating gastric
ulcers and tumors (FEO). In her latest edition, Nicole Maxwell (1990) has added much
information which may reflect the potential of the cat's claw. She informs us that Sidney
McDaniel submitted samples to the NIH cancer screen.
9 Unonopsis veneficiorum (Mart.) R.E. Fries. Annonaceae. "Icoja". Bark used like
U. floribunda (RVM), also in curare (SAR). "Maku" use in antifertility potions (SAR).
(Fig. 229)
Urena lobata L. var. reticulata (Cav.) Gurke. Malvaceae. "Malva roja", "Yute",
"Jute". Cultivated. Bark provides a hemp-like fiber; anthelmintic, sedative (RAR). (Fig.
230)
.
Utriculariafoliosa L. Utriculariaceae. "Maiz del tuqui tuqui " Aquate ornamental.
Vatairea guianensis Aubl. Fabaceae. "Mari mari del bajo". Wood for posts and
forked poles. The "Crhles" and "Palikur" use leaves and seeds in ointments to treat skin
diseases (GMJ). Fresh seeds are poulticed onto mange, herpes, and other cutanwus
eruptions; adding bark chips makes the treatment more effective (GMJ, RAR).
Virola sebifera Aubl. Myristicaceae. "Cumala blanca". Wood for lumber; the
leaves for tea; the sap, bark decoction, and aril for dyspepsia and intestinal colic, applied
directly for erysipelas, also for cleaning and healing wounds and inflammations (RVM).
Vismia angusta Miq. Hypericaceae. " P i c h i ~ ahoja grande". The wood is used
for rural construction; the decoction of the latex from the buds, mixed with the latex of
Euphorbia cotinifolia, is used to treat ringworm or "caracha" (dermatosis caused by
fungus) (RVM). Amazonian Colombians use the latex for infected sores and wounds.
"Tikuna" use to treat herpes and mycoses (SAR). The latex of one Vismia is slated for
studies by a California pharmaceutical company; preliminary tests suggest it to be effective
(MJP). Both Segundo and JAD suffered long-lasting rashes as a result of the latex (JAD).
Vismiaferruginea HBK. Hypericaceae. "Pichirina". The yellowish resin is applied
like iodine to wounds and dermatoses (SAR).
Vismia minutijlora Ewan. Hypericaceae. "Pichirina hoja menuda". Wood used for
construction. The latex is fungicidal.
WulDa baccata (L. f.) Kuntze. Asteraceae. "Manzanilla sacha", "Chirapa sacha".
Rutter says fruit is edible (RAR). "Crbles" use flower tea to treat flu. Leaf decoction used
as an antidiabetic; used by the "Wayzpi" as refreshing baths for fever. The decoction of
the aerial parts is recommended for nausea (GMJ).
Xanthosoma helleborifolium (Jacq.) Schott. Araceae. "Mano abierta". Cultivated.
As an ornamental; corms edible. Used elsewhere for snakebite (DAW).
Xylopia aromatics (Lam.) Mart. Annonaceae. "Espintana". Wood used for house
construction, beams, and decks. Toasted seeds and stem bark are mashed and used as a
carminative, stimulant, and aphrodisiac (RVM). (Fig. 236)
Xylopia benthamii R.E. Fries. Annonaceae. "Pisha callo". Wood used for house
construction, beams, and decks. Fruit tea used for stomachache (RVM).
Zanthoxylum sprucei (Engl.) Engl. Rutaceae. "Hualaja". Wood used for house
construction.
Zea mays L. Poaceae. "Maiz" (Corn). Cultivated. The hybrid commonly cultivated
is yellow hard corn; when green, it is eaten as "sweet corn"; when ripe it is used for
animal feed; in small amounts, it is used for flour for baking breads, and beverages such
as "chicha". "Maiz polvo saran is used for flour; other cvs are of lesser importance. For
medicinal purposes, corn is soaked in aguardiente, and used in poultices for fever (RVM).
In Piura, the silk decoction is considered antiblennorrhagic, diuretic, sedative, and tonic.
The grain tincture is used for alopecia and rheumatism. Tramil recommends the use of
cornsilk for edema and kidney pains (TRA).
Jim Duke
(Note: This index does not cover the extra-Amazonian entries which are computerized in
Duke and Wain, Medicinal Plants of the World. 1981. The index is fairly complete for
Rodolfo's entries.)
adenopathy: Davilla
angina: Bidens
anorexic: Paullinia
anthelmintic: Ananas
antiabortive: Pavonia
antiflatulent: Melissa
anxiety: Allamanda,
apertif: Panicum
aphidicide: Quassia
aphrodisiac: Abuta, Bka, Caraipa, Davilla, Ilex, Maytenus, Mimosa, Nymphaea, Persea,
Siparuna, Strychnos, Tachigalia, Tanaecium,Tynnanthus,Warscewiaia, Xylopia, Zingiber
arteriosclerosis: Caryodendron
atherosclerosis: Paullinia
backache: Warszewiczia
balm: Erisma
bat-repellent: Scleria
bladder: Xylopia
bot-fly: Anacardium
callus: Luffa
candidiasis: Tabebuia
canker: Virola
catarrh: Eleusine
cellulitis: Luffa
chickenpox: Cicer, Lantana
cholecystosis: Virola
cirrhosis: Uncaria
CNS-depressant: Petiveria
cornea: Caraipa,
depilatory: Sparattanthelium
disinfectant: Copaifea
dyspnea: Capsicum
edema: Zea
epistaxis: Warscewiczia
evil-eye: Brosimum,
fright: Cyperus
fumitory: Brugmansia,
grippe: Allium
gums: Cecropia
hairdye: Casearia
hairloss: Bertholletia
heartburn: Kalanchoe
herbicide: Duroia
hex ("bad luck"): Gallesia, Jatropha, Lantana, Lycopodium, Mansoa, Petiveria, Ruta
hypothermia: Lantana
hysteria: Ambrosia
ictericia: Bidens
impetigo: Caraipa,
incontinence: Bidens,
insanity: Chondrodendron
insecticide: Anthodiscus, Cordia, Euphorbia, Himatanthus, Iryanthera, Lonchocarpus,
Melia, Piper, Ryania, Solanum, Tanaecium, Vitex
jaundice: Spartium
leprosy: Aspidosperma
miscamage: Cocos
niguas: Cassia
otitis: Kalanchoe
phlegm: Leonia
pimples: Schizaea
polyuria: Psychotria
psoriasis: Copaifera
rickets: Amona,
rodenticide: Ryania
scar-preventive: Bixa,
scrofula: Bougainvillea,
scurvy: Hamelia
@shampoo: Solanum
shyness: Desmodium
sinusitis: Jatropha, Luffa, Petiveria, Solanum
snoring: Cyperus,
sores (external ulcers): Canna, Cassia, Codonanthe, Copaifera, Croton, Ficus, Genipa,
Indigofera, Kalanchoe, Machaerium, Macrolobium, Martinella, Melia, Miconia, Monstera,
Muntingia, Omphalea, Orthomene, Picramnia, Piper, Poeppigia, Pothomorphe, Psychotria,
Solanum, Symphonia, Tabebuia, Virola, Vismia
stomatosis: Banisteriospsis,
suppurative: Momordica
tachycardia: Lippia
tetanus: Eleuterine,
tick-repellent: Carapa,
uricosuric: Persea
uterosis: Triumfetta
vertigo: Psidium
vomiting: Psidium
NOTE: Not a complete index, just a hastily contrived summary index, taking many
liberties. A rash might have been entered under both rash and dermatitis. Going through
several translations, the references above may refer either to the translation or the original.
Medicinal terms, like common names, have different meanings in different places.(l did
not always index uses that are clearly external to Amazonia)
MAJOR REFERENCES
Ayala Flore, F. 1984. Notes on Some Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Amazonian Peru.
pp. 1-8 in Advances in Economic Botany 1: 1984. (Cited as AYA)
Balick, M.J. and Gersgoff, S.N. 1990. A Nutritional Study of Aiphanes caryotifolia
(Kunth) Wendl. (Palmae) Fruit: An Exceptional Source of Vitamin A and High Quality
Protein from Tropical America. Advances in Econ. Bot. 8:35-40. (Cited as MJB)
Branch, L.C. and da Silva, I.M.F. 1983. Folk Medicine of Alter do Chao, Para, Brazil.
Acta Amazonica 13(5/6):737-797. Manaus. (Cited as BDS)
Cayon, A.E. and Aristizabal, G.S. 1980. List of Plants Used by the Indigenous Chami of
Riseralda (in Spanish). Cespedesia 9(33-4):5-115. (Cited as CAA)
Denevan, W.M. and Treacy, J.M. 1988. Young Managed Fallows at Brillo Nuevo. pp.
8-46 Denevan, W.M. and Padoch, C. Swidden-Fallow Agroforestry in the Peruvian
Amazon. Advances in Econ. Bot. 5. New York Botanical Garden, NY. 107 pp. (Cited as
DAT)
Duke J.A. 1985. CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 677
pp. (Cited as CRC)
Duke J.A. 1986b. Isthmian Ethnobotanical Dictionary. Third Edition, 325 pp, Scientific
Publishers, Jodhpur, India. (Cited as JAD)
Duke J.A. 1989. CRC Handbook of Nuts. CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL. 343 pp.
(Cited as CRC)
Duke J.A. 1992a. CRC Handbook of Biologically Active Phytochemicak and their
Bioactivities. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. (Published both as hardcopy book and as
WordPerfect Database). 183 pp. (Cited as CRC)
Duke J.A. 1992b. CRC Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents of G U S Herbs and Other
Economic Plants. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. (Published both as hardcopy book and as
WordPerfect Database). 654 pp. (Cited as CRC)
Duke J.A. 1992c. CRC Handbook of Edible Weeds. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 246 pp.
(Cited as CRC)
Duke, P.K. sin date. Illsutrations published in some of J.A. Duke's books. (Cited as PKD)
Duke, J.A. and ducellier, J.L. 1993. CRC Handbook of Alternative Cash Crops. CRC
Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL, 536 pp. (Cited as DAD)
Duke J.A. and Wain, K.K. 1981. Medicinal Plants of the World. Computer index with
more than 85,000 entries, 3 vols. (Cited as DAW)
Elisabetsky, E. and Posey, D.A. 1989. Use of Contraceptive and Related Plants by the
Kayapo Indians (Brazil). J. Ethnophann. 26:299-316. (Cited as EAP)
FAO. 1986. Some medicinal forest plants of m i c a and Latin America. Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome, 1986. (Cited as FAO)
de F w , V. 1992. Medicinal and magical plants in the northern Peruvian Andes. Fitoterapia
63:417-440. (Cited as FEO)
Ferreyra, R. 1970. Flora Invasora de 10s Cultivos de Pucallpi y Tingo Maria. (Cited as
RM)
Forero, P.L.E. 1980. Ethnobotany of the Cuna and Waunana Indigenous Communities,
Choco (Colombia) (in Spanish). Cespedesia 9(33): 115-302. (Cited as FOR)
Gentry, A.H. 1993. A Field Guide to the Families and Genera of Woody Plants of
Northwest South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru). Illustrations by R. Vasquez
Martinez. Conservation International. Washington, DC. 895 pp. (Cited as GAV, source
of most of the illustrations)
Hartwell, J.L. 1982. Plants used against cancer. A survey. Reissued in one volume by
Q u a r t e m Publications, Inc. Lawrence, MA. 710 pp. (Cited as JLH)
Hitchcock, A.S. 1950. Manual of the Grasses of the United States. 2nd Ed. Revised by A.
Chase. USGPO, Washington, DC. 1051 pp. (Cited as HAC)
Lamb, F.B. 1985. Rio Tigre and Beyond, the Amazon Jungle Medicine of Manuel Cordova.
North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, 227 pp. (Cited as FBL)
Lewis, W. and Elvin-Lewis, M., 1977. Medical Botany. John Wiley & Sons, NY. 515 pp.
(Cited as LAE)
List, P.H. and Hohammer, L., 1969-1979. Huger's Handbuch der Pharmazeutischen
Pruxis, Vols. 2-6, Springer-Verlag, Berlin. (Cited as HHB)
Little, E.L., Jr. and Wadsworth,F.H. 1964. Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin
I s l a d . Ag. Handbook No. 249, USDA, Washington. 548 pp. (Cited as LAW)
MacBride, J.F. 1936-. Flora of Perk Field Museum o f Natural History, Botanical
Services, Chicago. (Cited as MAC)
Maxwell, N . 1990. Witch Doctor's Apprentice, Hunting for Medicinal Plants in the
Amazonian, 3rd Edition, Citadel Press, New York. 391 pp. (Cited as NIC)
Mors, W.B. and Rizzini, C.T., 1966. Useful Plants of Brazil, Holden-Day, Inc., San
Francisco, Calif. (Cited as MAR)
Morton, J.F., 1981. Atlas of Medicinal Plants of Middle America, Bahamas to Yucatan,
C.C. Thomas, Publisher, Springfield, IL. (Cited as JFM)
Plotkin, M.J. 1993. Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice. Viking Press, NY. 318 pp. (Cited
as MJP)
Poveda, L.J. 1985-6. Marvels of our Medicinal Flora (in Spanish). Biocenosis Vols. 1 and
2. (Cited as POV)
Schultes, R.E. and Raffauf,R.F. 1990. Ihe Healing Forest. Dioscorides Press, Portland,
484 pp. (Cited as SAR)
Soukup, J. 1970. Vocabularyof the Common Names of the Peruvian Flora and Catalog of
the Genera. Editorial Salesiano, Lima. 436 pp. (Cited as SOU)
Vasquez M., R. 1990. Useful Plants of Amazonian Peru. Spanish Typescript. Second
Draft. Filed with USDA's National Agricultural Library. (Cited as RVM)
Vilmorin-Andrieux, M.M. 1976 (reprint o f the 1885 English edition). Zhe Vegetable
Garden. Illustrations, Descriptions, and Culture of the Garden Vegetables of Cold and
Temperate Climates. The Jeavons-Leler Press, Palo Alto, CA. 620 pp. (Cited as MVA)