Concept

Anadenanthera colubrina

Summary
Anadenanthera colubrina (also known as vilca, huilco, huilca, wilco, willka, curupay, curupau, cebil, or angico) is a South American tree closely related to yopo, or Anadenanthera peregrina. It grows to tall and the trunk is very thorny. The leaves are mimosa-like, up to in length and they fold up at night. In Argentina, A. colubrina produces flowers from September to December and bean pods from September to July. In Brazil A. colubrina has been given "high priority" conservation status. Anadenanthera colubrina is known by many names throughout South America. In Peru it is known as willka (also spelled wilca, vilca and huilca) which in the Quechua languages means "sacred". A. colubrina is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Cuba, and Mauritius. A. colubrina grows at altitudes of about with roughly per year of precipitation and a mean temperature of . It tends to grow on rocky hillsides in well-drained soil, often in the vicinity of rivers. It grows quickly at per year in good conditions. The growing areas are often "savannah to dry rainforest." Flowering can begin in as soon as two years after germination. A sweetened drink is made from the bark. Gum from the tree can be used in the same way as gum arabic. A. colubrina's tannin is used in industry to process animal hides. The beans of A. colubrina are used to make a snuff called vilca (sometimes called cebil). The bean pods are roasted to facilitate removal of the husk, followed by grinding with a mortar and pestle into a powder and mixed with a natural form of calcium hydroxide (lime) or calcium oxide. The main active constituent of vilca is bufotenin; to a much lesser degree DMT and 5-MeO-DMT are also present. A. colubrina has been found to contain up to 12.4% bufotenin. It is also believed that the ground beans were used as a snuff by the Tiwanaku. There have been reports of active use of vilca by Wichi shamans, under the name hatáj.
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