It is a peculiar plant with a white hymenial layer and a bright 



green/ blue upper surface. Dr. Mason Hale of the Smithsonian 



Institution has studied our collection (Da'\'/.s£'/ Yosi 105 J) and has 



suggested that it represents a new species of Dictyonenia. Our 



Waorani informants called it n^n^ndap«^, a name which they 



apply to many fungi, but they insisted that this plant was once 



used in shamanistic ritual. It was last used some four generations 



ago— approximately eighty years— when "bad shaman ate it to 



send a curse to cause other Waorani to die". The drug was 



prepared as an infusion with various species of Bryophyta — 



kigiwai— and caused severe headaches and confusion when it was 

 drunk. 



N^n^ndap^ is also reported to cause sterility and may be put 

 into a child's drink to cause barrenness. At the moment, it is 

 unclear whether this is a post-hoc explanation of why some 

 women are sterile or whether it indicates the presence of active 

 chemical constituents. Although no peculiar lichen acids have 

 been reported from Dictyonenia, the genus is very poorly known 

 and certainly deserves phytochemical investigation. It may be 

 difficult to gather adequate supplies for analysis; so rare is this 

 species in Waorani land that one of us (JY) heard references to it 

 for over seven years before encountering it in the forest. 



We wish to acknowledge gratefully the generous support of the 

 Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada and 

 the Interamerican Foundation and the Summer Institute of Lin- 

 guistics. In Ecuador, we received the full cooperation of the 

 herbarium staffs of the Universidad Central and the Universidad 

 Catolica. The staff and field personnel of the Summer Institute of 

 Linguistics offered crucial logistical support. We would especially 

 like to thank Dr. Timothy Plowman of the Field Museum of 

 Natural History, Dr. Mason Hale of the National Museum of 

 Natural History, Smithsonian Institute, and Prof. Donald Pfister 

 of the Farlow Herbarium of Harvard University for their assist- 

 ance with the determination of the specimens and Prof. Richard 

 Evans Schultes of the Botanical Museum of Harvard University 

 for reviewing the manuscript. Voucher specimens arc on deposit 

 at the Economic Herbarium of Oakes Ames and the Farlow 

 Herbarium, both of Harvard University. 



293 



