scattered, often fragmentary, and not always reliable. 
In 1957, Schultes (38) published athorough and detailed 
review of the botanical aspects of this chaotic literature 
and presented, for the first time,a clear view of our know]- 
edge of the identity of the malpighiaceous psychotropic 
drugs of the northwest Amazon. Rios (35) has compiled 
a review of ethnographic, linguistic, botanical and chemi- 
cal aspects of ayahuasca. ‘Today, as our knowledge 
rapidly increases, many new problems arise. 
II 
Schultes (38) concluded that the drugs are, ‘‘made 
basically from the same or closely related plants of the 
Malpighiaceae’’, that is, Banisteriopsis Caapi (Spruce 
ex Griseb.) Mort. (syn.: B. quitensis (Ndz.) Mort. ; 8), 
B. inebrians Mort., B. Rusbyana (Ndz.) Mort. and Tet- 
trapterys methystica R. E. Schultes. Several other plants 
have been reliably reported as occasional admixtures with 
Banisteriopsis(38,39): Alternanthera Lehmannu Hieron. 
(Amaranthaceae), Banisteria longialata Ruiz ex Ndz. 
(Malpighiaceae), and Datura sp. (Solanaceae). Other 
species which may be involved are Malouetia Tama- 
guarina A. DC. (Apocynaceae) and Mascagnia psilo- 
phylla ( Juss.) Griseb. var. antifebrilis (Ruiz & Pav.) Ndz. 
(Malpighiaceae). 
Siqueira-Jaccoud (40)mentions that another malpighi- 
aceous, harmine-containing liana, Cabi paraensis Ducke, 
is used in the same way as its close relative, Banisteriop- 
sis Caapi, near the mouth of the Amazon, although 
Ducke (9) had denied any narcotic use of the plant. Rios 
(35) believed the ayahuasca of the Ucayali River in Peru 
to be the same species, but did not mention herbarium 
material to support his belief. 
Herbarium collections of Banistertopsis muricata 
(Cav.) Cuatr. giving the vernacular names aya-huasca 
[ 114 ] 
