Justicia pectoralis / Justicia / Acanthaceae (Acanthus family)

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Other Names

Chapantye, Tilo, Masha-Hari, Piri Piri.

Scent

The fresh plant has a balsamic odor; the dried plant smells faintly of coumarin (a Vanilla substitute).

Contents

Coumarin and umbelliferone have been identified in Justicia pectoralis. (2)

Synergic Combinations

Shamans add ground dried leaves of Justicia pectoralis to Virola bark resin with ash made from the tree Elizabetha princeps to prepare a snuff. "Justicia pectoralis has an aromatic aspect, but when added to Virola may facilitate the extraction of several tryptamine alkaloids and promote their absorption in human through mucous membranes." (1)

Historical

Virola snuffs are widely used by groups in wet tropical forests of South America. These tribes include the Waika of the upper Orinoco area in Venezuela and northern Brazil and the Paumarí from near the Rio Purus in Amazonian Brazil. The main ingredient of the snuff is an extract from Virola bark and Justicia pectoralis and other plants are often added to enhance the flavour and effects of the snuff. (1) Justicia pectoralis is "largely used in north-eastern Brazil for respiratory tract diseases"(3).

Plant Description

Justicia pectoralis Jacq., Acanthaceae, also named Tila or Tilo is a herb, 20 to 60 cm tall, with slender, grooved stems; erect, climbing or trailing and rooting at the nodes. Leaves opposite, narrow to broad-lanceolate, 3-11 cm long, 3-25 mm wide. Inflorescences 1-sided terminal panicles 2-12 cm long. Corollas tubular, 2-lipped, 8-10 mm long, white, lilac or pink, the throat sometimes dotted with dark purple, the outer surface downy. Cultivated in gardens as an ornamental and medicinal plant. Its native range extends from Mexico to Venezuela and throughout the West Indies. (5)

References

(1) An Hallucinogenic Snuff from the Amazon, Anne Swoboda. Biology 10, Winter 1998
(2) Justicia pectoralis: a study of the basis for its use as a hallucinogenic snuff ingredient, MacRae WD, Towers GH
(3) Antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator activities of Brazilian medicinal plants containing coumarin: a comparative study, L. K. A. M. Lealb, A. A. G. Ferreiraa, G. A. Bezerraa, F. J. A. Matosc and G. S. B. Viana
(4) Justicia pectoralis, The Vaults of Erowid
(5) TRI-OLOGY, Vol. 35, No. 2, Nancy C. Coile, Ph. D., Bureau of Entomology, Nematology & Plant Pathology, Florida Department of and Consumer Services.