Banisteriopsis caapi, commonly known as ayahuasca, yage, and several other names, is a plant vine that grows naturally throughout much of tropical South America, most commonly in Peru, Brazil, and Colombia, and is cultivated elsewhere including the American state of Hawaii. It is one of the primary ingredients in ayahuasca and as such is an important plant for those who participate in ayahuasca ceremonies or ayahuasca retreats.
B. caapi is technically a liana, which describes its growth habit of wrapping around trees to climb vertically and reach the top of the tree canopy where it can receive sunlight. It can grow to massive proportions, reaching up to 100 feet high with vines several inches in diameter. B. caapi flowers, although infrequently, with pink or white flowers in mid-summer.
The entirety of caapi, including leaves, bark, and stems, contain monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) including harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine. The amount of MAOIs contained in b. caapi can vary from as little as .5% to as much as 10%. Caapi also contains antioxidant proanthocyanidins, procyanidin, and epicatechin.
Caapi has been harvested for at least 500 years and likely for many years more by native Amazonian healers as one of the two main ingredients in traditional ayahuasca brew, along with psychotria viridis. Caapi was first mentioned in Western literature by early Portuguese and Spanish colonizers who, perhaps enhanced by their Christian colonial perspectives, considered the vine dangerous after observing the effects of ayahuasca on native populations. Today, the growing interest in ayahuasca has inspired increased harvesting of cappi throughout the Amazon, which has in turn driven increased cultivation of the vine as a commercial crop.
Amazonian curanderos are well-versed in the nuances of b. caapi, and various indigenous cultures through the Amazonian basin may recognize ten or more different ‘types’ of caapi vine, distinguishing them according to size, shape, and other characteristics. These types may in turn have their own unique uses in the traditional medicinal practices of the indigenous culture.¹
B. caapi is frost-sensitive and is quickly damaged from freezing temperatures. The vine is hardy to zone 10b, withstanding brief temperatures around 0C, and even then may experience cold damage, with leaf and vine die-back. It is a rapidly growing and aggressive vine and can grow several meters per year in its first years of life².
¹Langdon, Esther Jean. “Las clasificaciones del yagé dentro del grupo Siona: etnobotánica, etnoquÃmica e historia.” América IndÃgena 46.1 (1986): 101-116.
²Miller, Loren S. (1984). Banisteriopsis caapi (cv) `Da Vine` (USPP5751P). US Patent Office. https://patents.google.com/patent/USPP5751P/en
