A REPUTEDLY TOXIC MALOUERTIA 
FROM THE AMAZON 
BY 
RicHarp Evans ScHULTES 
ALONG the inundable forests of the uppermost Amazon 
River, one of the common understory trees is the apocy- 
naceous Malouetia Tamaquarina. This species I found 
to be especially frequent along the small Amazonian 
tributary, Rio Loretoyacu, in the Colombian ‘“Trapecio 
Amazonico,’’ inthe vicinity of Leticia. It first attracted 
my attention during a study of Hevea and other lacti- 
ciferous trees of that region in 1944, since its copious 
latex was often added to Hevea-latex as an adulterant. 
What interested me most in my study of Malouetia 
Tamaquarina was the reputation which the fruits have 
as a poison. This reputation is widespread in the Leticia- 
area, and the many reports which I heard during my 
three-year stay in Leticia agree strictly in details. 
According to the natives, the ripened fruit of Malou- 
etia T'amaquarina is consumed by the pajuil (Nothocrax 
urumutum (Spix)), a wild bird frequently seen under 
domestication in this part of the Amazon. The flesh of 
the pajuil is a great delicacy which may be eaten at any 
time of the year. During the months of March through 
June, however, when Malouetia Tamaquarina is in fruit, 
the bones of the bird must not be thrown to the dogs, 
lest they poison the animal. This poisoning is of a curious 
kind: it causes immediate and violent upsetting of the 
digestive tract and, within four or five hours, a glassy- 
eyed stare and interference with normal muscular coordi- 
nation of the legs. It sometimes may be fatal. 
A recent study of apocynaceous alkaloids (Raffauf, 
R. F. and M. B. Flagler in Econ. Bot. 14 (1960) 37) indi- 
cates that alkaloids have not been reported from Malou- 
etia. | have not seen this poisoning reported in the litera- 
ture, and I encountered it only in the Leticia-area. An 
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