BOTANICAL MUSEUM LEAFLETS VOLUME 25, No. 9 
NOVEMBER 30, 1977 
DE PLANTIS TOXICARIIS E MUNDO NOVO 
TROPICALE COMMENTATIONES XVII 
Virola as an oral hallucinogen 
among the Boras of Peru* 
RICHARD EVANS SCHULTES 
TONY SWAIN AND 
TIMOTHY C. PLOWMAN 
The hallucinogenic use of Virola bark was first reported from 
Amazonian Colombia in 1954 (Schultes, 1954), and preparation 
of a psychoactive snuff from a red, resin-like substance in the 
bark was described. Later investigations in Colombia and 
Brazil extended our knowledge of the use and methods of 
preparing this snuff in a variety of tribes (Biocca, 1966: 
Schultes & Holmstedt, 1968; Prance, 1970, 1972). 
In 1969, the custom of orally ingesting a paste made from the 
bark of Virola was first reported from information received 
from a Witoto Indian resident in the Leticia region of Colombia 
(Schultes, 1969). These natives no longer use the drug, but they 
remember its preparation by the older generations. 
Later, in April 1970, more intensive field studies in the Rio 
Karaparana area of Amazonian Colombia, where Witoto 
medicine men still employ Virola in witchcraft and medicine, 
clarified several points of uncertainty concerning the prepara- 
tion and use of the orally administered resin. The method 
followed by these Karaparana Witotos in making the thick 
paste from which small balls or pellets are shaped was fully 
described in 1976 (Schultes & Swain, 1976). It was pointed out 
that even in the ‘‘one limited area of the Witoto country along 
the Karaparana, the preparation of orally administered Virola 
resin varies appreciably from one Indian village to another and 
*The field work represented in this contribution was carried out as part of Phase VII of 
the Alpha Helix Amazon Expedition 1976-1977 and was funded by the National 
Science Foundation, Grant No. OCE 76-80874. 
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