Psychotria viridis is a shrub or small tree that grows to approximately two to three meters, and rarely to five meters high, and is native to much of Central and South America, from Mexico to Peru, and in certain places throughout the Caribbean such as Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is also commonly referred to as the chacruna plant. It is hardy to zone 10b and can withstand brief exposure to 0C but is sensitive to frost and freezing temperatures. P. viridis is a plant that you will almost certainly come into contact with and learn more about during your time attending an ayahuasca retreat.
P. viridis is classified as a member of the rubiacaea, or coffee family of plants. While surprising to many, the two plants are strikingly similar in many ways, including their physical similarity.
As an understory plant adapted to growing below larger trees and often without direct access to full sun, p. viridis grows well in part shade, much like many other plants to which it is related, including coffee plants. P. viridis likes humidity and does not grow well in arid climates or in prolonged periods of drought. It is readily propagated by cuttings, and even a single leaf with its full leaf stem intact can often take root in soil and become its own plant.
P. viridis contains the psychoactive compound dimethyltritamine, DMT. The dried plant matter contains an average of .3% DMT by weight, and can vary between .1% and over .6% based on the cultivar and, reportedly, the time of day and time of year in which the plant is harvested.
The DMT found in p. viridis can not be easily utilized by ingestion of the plant matter, as the monoamide oxidases (MAOs) found in the human digestive system quickly destroys the DMT before its effects can be felt. The ayahuasca brew bypasses this issue by combining p. viridis with a second plant specie containing compounds that block the monoamine oxidases from destroying the DMT, thus allowing increased levels of DMT to build up with enough time to feel DMT’s psychoactive effects. The most common partner plant that is paired with p. viridis is banisteriopsis caapi, also known as yage.
The genus psychotria contains approximately 2,000 unique plant species mostly confined to Central and South America, of which p. viridis is perhaps the most well known of all in the genus. Psychotria viridis has reportedly been successfully hybridized with the closely related DMT-containing plant psychotria carthagenensis, also in the psychotria genus, resulting in a reportedly faster growing and more cold-tolerant strain with reduced levels of DMT.
Much like the other main ingredient in traditional ayahuasca brew, banisteriopsis caapi, native healers of the Amazonian Basin recognize several sub-species or cultivar types within the p. viridis species, which mostly depend on location of small glands on the back of the plant’s leaves.
