catdestined
Posts: 356 Joined: 08-Nov-2012 Last visit: 16-Feb-2023 Location: felinity
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does anyone have information on this? apparently the machiguenga (located on the madre de dios in peru) used it before the discovery of psychotria, it said to produce visions of eyeballs snu's garden of eden also says it affects the 5-ht1a and 5-ht2a receptors achuma puma
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DMT-Nexus member
 
Posts: 12340 Joined: 12-Nov-2008 Last visit: 02-Apr-2023 Location: pacific
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never heard of it..what alklaoids does it contain? Long live the unwoke.
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catdestined
Posts: 356 Joined: 08-Nov-2012 Last visit: 16-Feb-2023 Location: felinity
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couldnt tell you :/ achuma puma
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DMT-Nexus member
Posts: 68 Joined: 17-Sep-2012 Last visit: 13-Feb-2018
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Just to be clear, Fittonia is a genus in the family Acanthaceae. While Snu didn't list the species in his book, Fittonia albivenis is the plant he's discussing in those comments. The information in Snu's book comes from this webpage, written by Ethan Russo: http://manu.montana.com/plants.htmlThe relevant portion of that website is short enough to quote verbatim: Ethan Russo wrote:Mamperikipini, Fittonia sp.
This species is employed by the Kofan and Siona-Secoya tribes of the Ecuadorian Amazon as a headache treatment. The Machiguenga know it as an hallucinogen, used in large amounts as part of the kamarampi mixture in previous generations before they gained knowledge of the use of Psychotria sp. for this purpose. They say that it produces visions of eyeballs...
Leaf tea is quite effective for headache, without side-effects, and is tasty, as well. Preliminary lab study reveals activity of an extract on serotonin 1a and 2a receptors, suggesting the possibility of isolating components that may hold promise for migraine treatment both symptomatically, and prophylactically. Note: kamarampi is the Machiguenga term for Banisteriopsis caapiRusso has mentioned the plant in two additional publications: Russo, E. 1992. Headache treatments by native peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon: a preliminary cross-disciplinary assessment. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 36(3): 193--206. [Also hosted on Russo's website]
Russo, E. 1997. An investigation of psychedelic plants and compounds for activity in serotonin receptor assays for headache treatment and prophylaxis. MAPS Bulletin 7(1): 4--8. [Available for download from the MAPS website]
From Russo 1992:
Quote:Fittonia albivenis (Lindl. ex Veitch) Brummitt
Kofan: ``minakoro'', ``ne-na-koo-roo''
Quichua: ``misapu-panga''
This is a primary forest low-growing creeping herb, as well as ruderal, that has red veins before drying, with inconspicuous flowers. It was collected as an unplanted herb in a garden in Shushufindi (Vickers and Plowman, 1984). Its distribution ranges from Ecuador to Peru, Colombia, Bolivia,and Northern Brazil. No record indicates that the species nor its genus have been chemically studied.
Among the Kofan, a leaf tea is employed in cases of urinary pain or difficulty (Schultes and Raffauff, 1990).
The Siona-Secoya use a decoction of the bruised and boiled plant to relieve headache or muscle pains; it can be ingested or rubbed on the affected area (Vickers and Plowman, 1984).
Score: 9 points
Rating: Most Promising
The other article, Russo 1997, mentions it only in passing, reiterating information from the previous two papers.
For a list of synonyms for Fittonia albivensis can be found at ARS GRIN.
It has been discussed at the Corroboree. As Yeti101 mentions in that thread, Duke & Vásquez mention that the leaves related species, F. verschaffeltii, are used as an infusion for toothache under the name ``motelillo'' by the ``Ketchwa'' of Ecuador.
A handful of other papers have mentioned the plant in an ethnomedicinal or ethnobotanical context, and at least one study in a phylogenetic analysis of a branch of the Acanthaceae... but looking at Google Scholar, there seems to be no publications on chemical analysis of the species. On the main page of Russo's site, there is a link to email him to ask questions about his research... perhaps he can answer whether any analysis was done to confirm or deny indications of 5HT1A/5HT2A activity?
The plant is commonly available as an ornamental (including from big box stores, according to the Corroboree discussion), so it wouldn't be difficult to obtain some to experiment with. It certainly sounds like an intriguing species and a nice houseplant.
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DMT-Nexus member
Posts: 1453 Joined: 05-Apr-2009 Last visit: 02-Feb-2014 Location: hypospace
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If you can suggest a recipe I will work on obtaining and trying it.
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DMT-Nexus member
Posts: 372 Joined: 29-Sep-2009 Last visit: 15-Feb-2024 Location: Diagonally parked in a parallel universe
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It is indeed available in at least one of the big box stores here in the states from time to time. Got one sitting on the windowsill right now. Will have to grow it out before I taste it. It's usually safe to assume commercially available houseplants have been treated with systemic pesticide so I'm in no hurry at the moment. It's almost too pretty to consider brewing in any case... Edit to say that the tag says it's Fittonia argyroneura.  I already asked Alice.
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