Hawaiian baby woodrose

Hawaiian Baby Woodrose (Argyreia nervosa), not to be confused with the Hawaiian Woodrose (Merremia tuberosa), is a perennial climbing vine, also known as Elephant Creeper and Woolly Morning Glory. Native to the Indian subcontinent and introduced to numerous areas worldwide, including Hawaii, Africa and the Caribbean, it can be invasive, although is often prized for its aesthetic value. The seeds of the plant are sometimes used as a legally obtainable hallucinogen.

Psychotropic use

The effects of oral ingestion of the seeds are comparable to LSD, although significantly less potent. The experience is usually reported as much less, if at all, visual, with some open-eye disturbances and closed-eye patterns. The most notable induced changes are cognitive, with changes in auditory perception also often reported.

The common dose is about 8 seeds, which are ground or chewed and eaten. The experience duration can range from 4 to 12 hours and is usually accompanied with gastric discomfort, including severe nausea and flatulence. The removal of the outer coating of the seeds is often recommended to reduce such effects, although vomiting is said not to affect the experience quantitatively. A simple water extraction of the seeds has also been reported to be effective.

Note that the seeds, as LSD does, can cause uterine contractions, which may lead to miscarriage if the seeds are consumed while pregnant, although with appropriate dosage and supervision, the effects can be used to aid childbirth.

History

The plant is a rare example of a hallucinogenic herb, the properties of which have only recently been discovered. While its cousins in the Convolvulaceae family, such as the Rivea corymbosa (Ololiuhqui) and Ipomoea violacea (Tlitliltzin) were used in shamanic rituals of Latin America for centuries, the Hawaiian baby woodrose was not traditionally recognised as a hallucinogen. Its properties were first brought to attention in the 1960s, despite the fact that the chemical composition of its seeds is near identical to those of the two species mentioned above, and in fact contain the highest concentration of psychoactive compounds in the entire family.

Traditional use of the plant in India usually employed the leaves and roots of the plants, which are not psychoactive, as antiseptic and anti-inflammatory drugs.

The hallucinogenic properties of the seeds became known mainly through their use in Hawaii, Haiti and Puerto Rico, where impoverished members of the population would consume the seeds, seeking a "cheap buzz" as an alternative to alcohol. A sample made its way to Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, who confirmed the effects and analysed its chemical composition.

Chemistry

The seeds of the plant contain numerous lysergic acid amides, including ergine, ergonovine and isoergine, a chemical group that also includes the well known hallucinogen LSD. Hallucinogenic effects experienced after consumption of the seeds are usually attributed to ergine (also known as d-Lysergic acid amide, or LSA), although the validity of the attribution remains disputed (see the ergine entry for more info).

While ergine is listed as a DEA Schedule III substance in the United States, Hawaiian baby woodrose is not controlled. Thus, while possession of any part of the plant is legal, an ergine extraction is prosecutable by US law. The plant is not monitored as a major controlled substance precursor, since a synthesis of LSD from ergine, while possible, is impractical.

The "furry" outer skin of the seeds purportedly contains cyanogenic glycosides, also found in the pits of most fruit, such as apples and apricots, the ingestion of which is the likely cause of nausea reported by those who have eaten the seeds.

The main body of the plant also contains small amounts of strychnine, a potent toxin, but its presence in negligible in the seeds.

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