Virola sebifera

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Virola sebifera, common names Ucuúba-do-Cerradohttp://www.lapa.ufscar.br/portugues/fragmentos.htm and red ucuuba,http://www.henriettesherbal.com/php/get.php?id=14475 is a type of tree from the family Myristicaceae, from Central America and South America.Markus Wiesenauer, Suzann Kirschner-Brouns: Homöopathie - Das große Handbuch, Gräfe & Unzer Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8338-0034-4

Description

Virola sebifera is a tall, thin tree, which grows up to 30 m tall. The leaves are simple and grow up to 30 centimeters long. The small flowers are single-sexed and are found in panicles. The fruit is reddish and oval-shaped. The individual Virola trees, which include 40 to 60 species, are difficult to differentiate from one another.Christian Rätsch: Enzyklopädie der psychoaktiven Pflanzen. AT Verlag, 2007, 8. Auflage, ISBN 978-3-03800-352-6

Contents und uses

The bark of the tree is rich in tanninsMarkus Wiesenauer, Suzann Kirschner-Brouns: Homöopathie - Das große Handbuch, Gräfe & Unzer Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8338-0034-4 and also the hallucinogenhttp://www.catbull.com/alamut/Lexikon/Pflanzen/Virola%20sebifera.htm dimethyltryptamine (DMT), as well as 5-MeO-DMT, and it is used by indigenous people to treat skin conditions. The ripe seeds contain fatty acid glycerides, especially laurodimyristin and trimyristin. Karl Hiller, Matthias F. Melzig, Lexikon der Arzneipflanzen und Drogen, 2 Bände, Genehmigte Sonderausgabe für den area verlag, 2006, ISBN 3-89996-682-1

Uses

Industrial uses

Seeds from Virola sebifera are processed to obtain the fats, which are yellow and aromatic. They smell like nutmeg. The fats also become rancid quickly. They are used industrially in the production of fats, candles and soaps. This virola fat possesses properties similar to cocoa butterKarl Hiller, Matthias F. Melzig, Lexikon der Arzneipflanzen und Drogen, 2 Bände, Genehmigte Sonderausgabe für den area verlag, 2006, ISBN 3-89996-682-1 and shea butter.

Homeopathy

The homeopathic product Myristica sebifera, (Abbreviation: Myris) is derived from the fresh, red juice from the injured bark of the tree. It is especially used for such ailments as abscesses, phlegmon, paronychia, furuncle, anal fissures, infections of the parotid gland, bacterially infected tonsilitis, and others.Homöopathisches Repetorium, Deutsche Homöopathie Union (DHU)Markus Wiesenauer, Suzann Kirschner-Brouns: Homöopathie - Das große Handbuch, Gräfe & Unzer Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8338-0034-4Mohinder Singh Jus, Praktische Materia Medica. Arzneimittellehre von A-Z, Homöosana, 2004, ISBN 3-906407-05-5

Traditional medicine

The smoke of the inner bark of the tree is used by shamans of the indigenous people of Venezuela for healing fever conditions, or also cooked for driving out evil ghosts.Christian Rätsch: Enzyklopädie der psychoaktiven Pflanzen. AT Verlag, 2007, 8.te Auflage, ISBN 978-3-03800-352-6

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