This article first caught my attention in early 2015.


Dictyonema huaorani is a lichen species discovered in Ecuador, this lichens purported psychedelic effects were first reported by indigenous peoples, later a sample tested positive for psychedelic tryptamines, 4-phosphorloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, in particular, was of interest to me.

Has there been any follow up research regarding Dictyonema huaorani?

Has any further research even been an option as field samples are non-existent?

Did this turn out to be a dead end? Or did interest simply "fizzle out"?

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A new species of lichen has been discovered in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest, according to a recent paper published in The Bryologist. Researchers led by lead author Michaela Schmull have tentatively identified tryptamine and psilocybin in the lichen, among other potential substances.

The story is a rather unusual one. There is only one known sample of the lichen in all of Western science, and it was collected in 1981 by ethnobotanists Wade Davis and Jim Yost while conducting research in Ecuador. In a 1983 paper describing their discovery of this lichen, Davis and Yost write:

In the spring of 1981, whilst we were engaged in ethnobotanical studies in eastern Ecuador, our attention was drawn to a most peculiar use of hallucinogens by the Waorani, a small isolated group of some 600 Indians. … Amongst most Amazonian tribes, hallucinogenic intoxication is considered to be a collective journey into the subconscious and, as such, is a quintessentially social event. … The Waorani, however, consider the use of hallucinogens to be an aggressive anti-social act; so the shaman, or ido, who desires to project a curse takes the drug alone or accompanied only by his wife at night in the secrecy of the forest or in an isolated house. …

Of particular botanical interest is the fact that this peculiar cultural practise involves hallucinogenic plants, one rarely used and one until now unreported. The Waorani have two hallucinogens: Banisteriopsisniun muricata and an as yet undescribed basidiolichen of the genus Dictyonema. The former is morphologically very similar to other commonly used … species such as ayahuasca, Banisieriopsis Caapi … On the other hand, no basidiolichen has yet been reported to be employed as a hallucinogen. [emphasis mine]

In that paper, Davis and Yost described the new lichen species as “extremely rare.” So rare, in fact, that Yost had “heard references to it for over seven years before encountering it in the forest.” Imagine being an explorer, dedicating your life to studying the people and plants of far-flung regions, and finally discovering an elusive psychedelic lichen you’ve been hearing about for seven years.

Even the indigenous Waorani people did not have specimens of the lichen, which they call nɇnɇndapɇ, on hand. Natives told the researchers that its last known shamanic use was “some four generations ago — approximately eighty years — when ‘bad shaman ate it to send a curse to cause other Waorani to die.'” Wade Davis and Jim Yost became the first known Westerners to encounter nɇnɇndapɇ, and preserved the specimen for future analysis.

Fast forward 33 years. In 2014, Michaela Schmull and her colleagues analyzed the sample’s DNA and determined that it was a new species, which they named Dictyonema huaorani. (Huaorani is an alternate spelling of Waorani, the original ‘discoverers’ of this species.) Schmull’s team examined an extract of the lichen using liquid chromatography-mass spectometry (LC-MS) techniques, and identified tryptamine, psilocybin, and 5-MeO-DMT, as well as 5-methoxytryptamine (5-MeOT), 5-MeO-NMT, and 5-methoxytryptamine (5-MT).

It is important to note that without reference compounds — in other words, available samples of the chemicals in question — these results are suggestive rather than conclusive. Since compounds like 5-MeO-DMT have never been observed in a fungus or lichen before, it’s unlikely that all of these identifications are correct. And although fungi are well known for producing psilocybin, the family to which this fungal lichen belongs — Hygrophoraceae — has no other known psilocybin-producing species. Of all the mentioned compounds, the researchers speculate that their identification of tryptamine and psilocybin are most likely to be correct.

http://psychedelicfronti...hen-dictyonema-huaorani/

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-eg

Seems likely there's a typo "5-methoxytryptamine (5-MeOT), 5-MeO-NMT, and 5-methoxytryptamine (5-MT)."

With these (purported) 5-oxygenated derivatives, it seems that we have to examine the role of the algal component of the lichen, or possibly the nature of the substrate on which the lichen grows - if it were a myristicaceous bark, for example - as these would be probable sources for a group of substances more commonly found in plants. But then again, they also occur in toads and mammals, so who knows?

I just looked and the original paper says,



There's no mention of the species of plant on which the lichen grows, presumably because it was found on rotting wood.

They also note some other psychoactive lichen, albeit not psilocybin-active species:


I'm not sure where I downloaded the original article from, so I've attached it below. (Original post)

EDIT: I see that Dictyonema spp. contain cyanobacteria - what type of 'algae' do other lichens contain?

https://www.dmt-nexus.me...&m=210162#post210162 ;
Also: https://www.dmt-nexus.me...&m=286982#post286982

I would say either way is correct, even in TIHKAL shulgin designates "T" for tryptamine, and "5-meo" is common shorthand for "5-methoxy", so "5-meo-t" could be seen as appropriate for 5-methoxy-tryptamine.

-eg

Lichens are composed of an algae or cyanobacteria living amongst fungal filaments.

I'm not very knowledgeable in lichens and I'm not sure if there is a taxonomic designation for both the cyanobacteria/algae and the individual fungi that form the lichen, and though lichens are in fact two organisms, they may be labeled as a single organism..

...but then again, I really don't know.

I would guess enzymes contained in either the algae or fungi or both are converting tryptophan from the environment into the active tryptamine compounds...

...but this, while fascinating, is not my concern here.

I was more interested in learning if research is continued regarding this lichen, or if interest simply fizzled out...

Are people attempting to locate samples of this lichen?

Nothing would be more amazing than having live samples or being able to cultivate this lichen from samples obtained in the field...

And even more mind blowing is that there is a potential "lost" entheogen, that had human use, was used shamanically, but that has not been used in over 4 generations, plus psilocybin and 5-meo-DMT are not known to exist in any lichens, making it novel as well as extremely rare and mysterious.

Is anybody working to locate samples of this lichen?

Has any research been conducted since?

You figure ethnobotanical researchers or entheogen enthusiasts as well as shamans would be very interested in locating and researching this lichen.

Obtaining a live reproducing sample and developing routes for cultivation would solve all mysteries regarding this case.

...anytime I hear of a potential entheogen I'm instantly captivated, now, hearing of a potential entheogen in a novel class of organism that had past use but is nearly forgotten, that also contains psilocybin...this is something that needs to be investigated.

Who knows what chemical treasures are contained in plants or fungi that people have yet to investigate, there could be many unknown sources of entheogens all around us...I feel shamans from all places may actually have secret entheogens...

Any way, I've searched and found very little, but anything I do find I will post here.

-eg

Some facts...

Information is sparse!

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Dictyonema is a symbiosis between a basidiomycete fungi and a scytonematoid cyanobacteria, making it both a basidiolichen and a cyanolichen, which is a very rare combination.[4] This makes Dictyonema more closely related to mushrooms than it is to most other lichens.
-Wikipedia

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The Dictyonema fungus is a basidiomycete, so it discovered lichenization independently from the ascomycete lichens.[12] Within the basidiomycetes, Dictyonema is closely related to three other genera of basidiolichens that are also in the family Hygrophoraceae: Lichenomphalia, Acantholichen, and Cyphellostereum.[4] Interestingly, molecular data indicates that lichenization has evolved independently at least twice, and perhaps three times, within these four genera, which suggests that for some reason the fungi in Hygrophoraceae are predisposed to evolve into lichens.[4] The majority of the other, non-lichenized fungi in this family are saprotrophic (consuming decaying organic matter) or ectomycorrhizal (symbiotic with plant roots), although numerous species, such as Arrhenia, grow on mosses and derive nutrition from them.[4][13] It is not yet understood why these fungi are more inclined to become lichens.

-Wikipedia

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-eg

I found that interesting too. I don't see why there should be that big of a distinction between mycorrhizal fungi and lichens in the sense that it's just a question of how close they like to snuggle up

Maybe next we'll find that seemingly similar fungi have evolved separately at different times, so that they're on different limbs of the tree of life, as it were, despite both appearing to be fungi. Just off the top of my head!

Also with endosymbionts such as cyanobacteria, I think it's useful to consider how organisms such as the puffer fish and certain salamanders to name but two owe their tetrodotoxin content to endobacteria. Even our gut bacteria could be considered a symbiosis, although that is rather more complex.

It's crazy how evolution will independently produce similar organisms...

You brought up endophytes, and I was reminded of an endophytic fungi that exists in some phalaris grasses where it produces lysergamides, when animals consumed this grass they would encounter medical issues, this was claimed to be a result of DMT, gramine, and 5-meo-DMT existing in the grass, but was later shown that an endophytic fungi within the grass producing lysergamide compounds may be to blame....shulgin briefly comments on this in TIHKAL, I think in the "DMT is everywhere chapter"

Fascinating stuff.




Given the information above I think it would be safe to bet that the lichen is obtaining tryptophan from the environment, where enzymes in either the cyanobacteria/algae or fungi then convert it into the active compounds, similar to psilocybin fungi.

...all that you can do is speculate until science has more than a single sample to study...

-eg

Sad but true!

Good call on the endophytic fungi, that complements the picture quite nicely.

There is so much to study in just this one species (D. huorani):

Does the lichen feed on the rotting wood substrate, unlike many other lichens that seem to largely feed on air, rain and sunlight?

What are the photosynthetic products of the cyanobacteria? Do they fix nitrogen at all? Otherwise, are they reliant on the trace amounts of nitrogen compounds found in rainwater, particularly thunder rain?

Is it the fungus or the cyanobacterium that produces the active compounds, or even both (and are the 5-substituted compounds really present as suspected)?


Tip of the iceberg of course, but I'd love to be in a position where I could study these matters!

Get a sample and we can test it

Thanks for all the interesting info, guys

I would actually consider taking the venture to locate a sample, however:



The party who obtained the single sample claims he had been hearing of it for SEVEN years before ever seeing it in the field...

Finding this lichen will require dedication...and funding.

Why are there not lichen experts attempting to locate this species? Are there? And I'm not able to find the information for one reason or another?


I just hope interest does not simply die out before another sample can be located...

-eg

I finally read the paper on this - interesting stuff. Too bad they couldn't obtain any reference samples to confirm. Definitely room for further exploration and hopefully somebody (maybe myself one day) picks up this line of inquiry. Definitely worth a bump.

I have the paper in my cart (Ten bucks, Bioone.com) and will be reading it on Friday. This is like a unicorn that any ethno-botanist (clandestine or professional/academic) would be chomping at the bit to have the chance at cultivating! I have spent the last few days diving as deep as I can into the subject. To the point to where I was able to skip all the article cite quotes, as I already knew them by heart

It seems that any research here has fizzled out, but boy would I give my left arm to have a sample of this growing in my entheogenic garden! If anyone comes up on any new information, please do share. This thread is not dead yet! LOL