Caller (7), in a consideration of the historical literature 
on the botanical sources of ayahuasca, concluded that the 
species used to prepare this narcotic drink is Banisteri- 
opsis Caapi and that B. quitensis is a synonym of B. 
Caapi. Other recent writers on Peru (18,97) attribute 
ayahuasea exclusively to Banisteriopsis Caapi. 
Padre Placido, who spent many years as a missionary 
in the Putumayo of Colombia, did not identify yajé 
botanically (17), but he stated that the Sionas often add 
to the narcotic drink of this name the pe or yako- 
borrachero—the floripondio of Mocoa, or, probably, Da- 
tura suaveolens H. & B. ex Willd. 
Sandeman (84) mentioned yajé casually, attributing it 
to Prestonia amazonica. 
Allen (2), in an excellent description of the yurupari 
ceremony of the Kubeo Indians of the Rio Vaupés in 
Colombia, indicated Banisteriopsis Caapi as the source 
of the narcotic beverage upon which this frenzied ritual 
is based. Taylor (91), following Allen, has attributed the 
malpighiaceous narcotics to Banisteriopsis Caapi. 
In arecent and authoritative work on plant alkaloids, 
Henry (30) identified the narcotics known as yajé, caapt 
and ayahuasca as Banisteriopsis Caapi, B. metallicolor 
or Banisteria lutea Ruiz ex Griseb. 
Manske and Holmes (51) attributed all three to Ban- 
isteriopsis Caapi. In 1946, Ducke (20) identified the fa- 
mous narcotic of the natives of the extreme northwest 
of the Amazon Valley, called caapi in the Brazilian part 
and yagé in the Colombian part of the region, as Bani- 
steriopsis Caapi. Hesse (82) attributed ayahuasca and 
yajé both to Banisteriopsis Caapi, and Moller (55) stated 
that caapi was exclusively referable to this species. 
Recently, Macbride (48), probably following Morton 
(58), pointed to Banisteriopsis Caapi, B. inebrians and 
B. quitensis as the principal sources of the alkaloid vari- 
[ 25 ] 
