The drug is most commonly taken in the form of powdered 
seeds added to fermented drinks or as a tea of the leaves. A 
dangerous hallucinogen, Brugmansia brings on an intoxication 
often so violent that physical restraint is necessary before the 
onset of a deep stupor, during which the visions are experienced. 
The species currently recognized are Brugmansia arborea, (L.) 
Lagerh., B. aurea, B. x candida Pers., B. x dolichocarpa 
Lagerh., B. x insignis (B. Rodr) Lockwood, B. sanguinea, B. 
suaveolens (H. & B. ex Willd.) Bercht. & Presl, B. versicolor 
Lagerh. and B. vulcanicola(A.S. Barclay) R.E. Schult. (Schultes 
and Hofman, 1980). 
The most intensive use of Brugmansia appears to be in 
Sibundoy in southern Colombia, where Kamsa and Ingano 
medicine men preserve, through vegetative reproduction, highly 
atrophied clones for which they have native names. These 
monstrosities — possibly mutants induced by viral infection — 
vary in narcotic strength and are, consequently, used for differ- 
ent purposes (Bristol 1966, 1969; Lockwood 1973; Schultes and 
Hofmann 1979b). 
What may possibly represent an extreme variant of an 
indeterminate species of Brugmansia has been described as a 
distinct genus: Methysticodendron R.E. Schult. Native to the 
high, isolated Valley of Sibundoy, M. Amesianum R.E. Schult. 
is important amongst the Kamsa and Ingano as an hallucinogen 
and medicine, where it is called culebra borrachera (“intoxicant 
of the snake”) (Schultes, 1955). 
The chemical constitution of Brugmansia is similar to that 
of Datura, with tropane alkaloids the active principles. In B. 
aurea from the Andes, scopolamine constitutes from 50-60% of 
the total alkaloid content, as contrasted with 30-34% for the 
same plant grown in England and Hawaii. Aerial portions of B. 
aurea, Originally from the Colombian Andes, but cultivated in 
England, contain scopolamine, norscopolamine, atropine, mete- 
loidine and noratropine; roots have the same alkaloids, as well 
as 3a66-ditigloyloxytropane-7B-ol, 3a-tigloyloxytropane and 
tropine. Leaves of the same stock grown in Hawaii contain the 
identical spectrum of alkaloids but vary in total content and 
amount of scopolamine (Bristol et al. 1969). The leaves and 
stems of Methysticodendron Amesianum contain scopolamine, 
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