My proposed name for the Acacia confusa-based ayahuasca is FORMOSAHUASCA: after Formosa acacia (i.e., the beautiful acacia), presumably after Ilha Formosa (i.e., the beautiful island, the original Portuguese name for Taiwan).

SWIM is glad that you didn't mind swims publicizing your work. You made some real break throughs with your bioassays, and it just goes to show that this forum and the people in it are making the difference! WE ARE THE LEADING EDGE HERE FOLKS!!! don't forget it!

Thank you very much! It's a great honor for me to have my reports featured on the front page of a big site, especially given that my experience with DMT is minuscule compared to many people on this site.

I hope the direct oral activity will not turn out to be a quirk of my body chemistry or a natural peculiarity in my batch of the acacia root bark. This is an issue I have no way to address myself. Hopefully, more safe and careful bioassays will be performed and reported.

I thought you could also link to exactlydivyn's Facebook group and their brewing write-up. After all, they are far ahead of me with the acacia-based ayahuasca preparations, though they have not performed any bioassays of pure acacia brew, and were not aware of its psychoactivity when I contacted them. Here is what exactlydivyn wrote to me about how he started his acacia brewing practice:

Now that is an amazing message from the plant spirits... I love it!
I posted it because we need more people experimenting... more bioassays!
I added those little bit to the post...

Thank you very much! (I hope he doesn't mind being quoted... More quotes from his e-mail are appended to the first post in this thread.)

If he does it can be deleted... his name is not provided.
iT IS REALLY A MOVING QUOTE HOWEVER...

Yes, he seems very dedicated, and he also likes to talk about the subjective/spiritual dimension of his experiences, and to share his shamanic beliefs (he appears less interested in the pharmacology of the acacia though).

well he doesnt have to be. that is other peoples work.
end him a link to the post, it would be great to speak with him.

on the note of the psychopharmacology of it...
as i posted on the site, it is really interesting about the comparison between jurema (MHRB) and this acacia. What you may have stumbled upon here is the missing link as far as research into the oral activity of the two roots. Independant researchers like our selves have been trying really hard for years to wrap our brains around Yuremamine, this is also part of the missing link to what is called dark spice or jungle spice if Yuremamine is found in acacia confusa in larger quantities for example we will be onto something. The actual psychopharmacology of this compound is still really not very understood. It is also not very understood as to why it is effective at all or why it is only partially effective some times for some people.

This has been a pet project for me for some time having had a powerful experience myself with just stem bark of mimosa hostilus. I believe it was just stem bark... I have not repeated it due to the harsh tannin reaction to the gut. But your ONE bioassay has made a tremendous impact in understanding what is actually happening in both plants. You may have pointed researchers in the right dirrection as to understanidng whatis happening with jungle spice as well as what is happening with Yuremamine and jurema.

The jurema cult itself is fascinating... as can be... its a syncretic afro-brazilian tradition reborn out of traditional indigenous tribes in brazil. They drink the jurema preta and call on the spirits of their mountain gods, "beings of light" ( as they would appear under the influence of a tryptamine, and then they engage in african influenced possession practices drinking LOTS of rum ( their version of it) with out any apparent intoxication after words, which is often the case in african possession practices. I have often wondered if the ingestion of alcohol during the ingestion of MHRB increased the effects and at the same time decreased the impact of the tannins effect on the stomach. It MAY be a interesting experiment on your end with this to actually emulate this practice, just a bit ( they drink whole bottles) and see if ingesting alcohol has a beneficial impact. There maybe a connection here.

I know a girl with a Ph.D. in organic chemistry who is marginally interested in psychedelics (though she has many reservations about this subject as well). I've encouraged her to analyze my root bark, but I am not sure how far that can go (would also have to involve shipping my plant material across a continent).

There is a much better option then that...
Jace Callaway would be the guy to get in contact with and send samples too... he already is on it.
http://www.rsc.org/publi...rticle.asp?doi=b516351j
his email...
callaway@uku.fi
Finola
Jace Callaway, Ph.D.
POB 236
FIN - 70100, Kuopio Finland
Tel: 358 17 163 601
Fax: 358 17 162 456
EMail: callaway@uku.fi
WWW: http://www.finola.com
found online... This is public info to any one who looks up his name I am not outing any ones personal info....
http://www.maps.org/news...ers/v13n1/13144sav.html
a topic... SWIM participated in a long time ago...
http://forums.ayahuasca....mp;highlight=yuremamine

These should give some very good leads...
I highly suggest trying to contact Jace and send him some samples for comparative research between Jurema and mimosa.

I'd be very happy to collaborate in any way, though the amount of the bark I have is not tooooo large, and it has not been professionally identified by a botanist (just purchased from an herbal shop using the local Chinese name).

Worth a shot non the less!

So whoever is willing to perform a chemical analysis of the root bark, please send me a PM.

This is incredibly frustrating. I've gone to every traditional/herbal medicine shop in this darned city, and not one stocks xiangsi shu root bark (several stock the stems, though that does me no good).

What makes it even more annoying is that there are three Acacia confusas growing RIGHT outside my apartment (verified by a botanist friend), but I can't exactly tromp over there and dig me up a root or two.

the bark and stems work too spaz....

you can send me some for pointing that out hehehehe

Are you not in Taiwan? (You are writing the name in pinyin, so I presume you are not...) I have no information on medicinal use of the acacia outside of Taiwan and Hong Kong (and the mention of Hong Kong appears in an old paper from 1967 where the chemical composition of the bark is analyzed). Also, in Taiwan, it was not so easy to find. When I was asking in traditional Chinese medicine stores, they had no idea what it was. Then an old man running a traditional Chinese medicine shop told me that it is sold in "herbal medicine stores" (草藥店 or 青草店) and not in Chinese medicine stores (中藥店). So, I went to such a store in Hsinchu. They immediately knew the plant, but they did not carry it because of low demand. They referred me to the Longshan temple area of Taipei which has a gigantic conglomeration of these herbal shop. I went there, and was told at the first shop I asked that I can get the fresh root the next day (and I had to give them a pre-payment). That's what I did. (And I asked at another shop, just for a cross-check, and they also could provide it, and the conditions seemed quite similar.)

PS: xiangsi shu is a Taiwanese name for the acacia. If you're in a different part of the Chinese-speaking world, a different local name will probably be used. (Latin names are not known to Chinese herbalists in my experience.)

I've just stumbled upon the art of Dennis Konstantin Gerigk, and I am stunned by the degree of similarity it bears to my recent experiences with Acacia confusa (most notably, in the rainbow-ey body image, somewhat reptilian body transformations and colorful networks extending out of the body and connecting to the surrounding objects). Note that I've never seen these paintings before (or anything too similar in style), though I am very fond of psychedelic art. Here is a relevant sampler from the portfolio of this wonderful visionary artist:

I'm in Singapore. (Didn't use characters as a convenience to the non-hanzi capable members of the forum). 相思树 is the local name here as well; like I said, a couple of stores knew what I was talking about, but they only carried small branches, not roots, and didn't know anyone who did stock the roots.

Hehe looks like it has been suggested for publication on realitysandwich.com by no less than Daniel Pinchbeck, whose writings I greatly appreciate:

http://www.evolver.net/u...huasca_ayahuasca_taiwan

And thanks again, Dorge, for blogging about it!