Ayahuasca Foundation

Catahua is a tropical tree that reach a height of 90 to 130 feet, with a spiny trunk and spreading branches. The grey bark is covered with conical spines. The long-stemmed, leaves are papery thin, heart-shaped and up to 2 feet long. It has red flowers. The plant secretes a yellowish milky juice used to [...]

The leaves of this jungle bush have been used for ages in the brew ‘ayahuasca,’ prepared by the shamans of the Amazon Rainforest to diagnose and heal countless afflictions. The leaves of the Chacruna plant are usually cooked together with mascerated segments of the ayahuasca vine. Because of its chemical composition, the mixture of plants [...]

Chanca piedra is a small herb that grows to 30 or 40 cm in height. The plant’s name means “stone breaker” in spanish. It was named for its effectiveness in eliminating gallstones and kidney stones. In addition to kidney stones, the plant is to treat colic, diabetes, malaria, dysentery, fever, flu, tumors, jaundice, vaginitis, gonorrhea, [...]

Chiric Sanango, or manacá, has a long history of indigenous use in the Rainforest as both a medicinal plant and a magical plant. It is a sacred and spiritual plant used by Curanderos in ayahuasca, in special initiation ceremonies and for bad luck. In the Amazon, the root is infused with aguardiente (rum) for rheumatism [...]

Chuchuhuasi is an enormous canopy tree of the Amazon rainforest that grows to 30 m high. It has large leaves (10-30 cm), small, white flowers, and extremely tough, heavy, reddish-brown bark. Indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest have been using the bark of chuchuhuasi medicinally for centuries. Its Peruvian name, chuchuhuasi, means “trembling back,” which [...]

Copaiba trees grow to a height of around 20 or 30 meters and have many branches. They produce many small, white flowers on long clusters and small fruit pods with two to four seeds inside. The part of the tree that is often employed medicinally is the resin that accumulates in cavities within the tree [...]

Guanabana, also called Chirimoya, is an fruit edible fresh or in ice creams. Leaf decoction used for catarrh, crushed seed to kill parasites. Bark, roots and leaves are used in teas for diabetes; as a sedative, heart tonic. Some natives use the leaf tea to cleanse and support their liver. Elsewhere used for chills, colds, [...]

This is a tropical Asian species with fragrant leaves containing essential oils, largely terpenoid. It forms a perennial grass up to 70 cm in height, in low hummocks. The leaves are linear, 50-70 cm long, 1.5-2 cm wide, and glaucous-green in color. Flowers are rarely produced. In Ecuador the plant is cultivated, and recommended as [...]

Huacapurana is a medium-sized tree that grows alongside rivers and streams, which produce small white to pinkish flowers with red stamens and produce large bean pods. Huacapurana is a common remedy for malarial fever where a decoction or a tincture of the bark to be taken twice daily to reduce the fever related to malaria. [...]

Stinging Nettle is a perennial plant growing in temperate and tropical wasteland areas around the world. It grows 2 to 4 meters high and produces pointed leaves and white to yellowish flowers. Ishanga, also called Ortega, has a well-known reputation for giving a savage sting when the skin touches the hairs and bristles on the [...]