Virola elongata

Virola elongata
Virola elongata 1860 Illustration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Magnoliids
Order:	Magnoliales
Family:	Myristicaceae
Genus:	Virola
Species:	V. elongata
Binomial name
Virola elongata Warb.[1]
Synonyms
Myristica cuspidata[2] Myristica punctata[2] Myristica membranacea[2] Myristica uaupensis[2] Palala punctata[2] Palala uaupensis[2] Palala cuspidata[2] Palala membranacea[2] Palala elongata[2] Palala uaupensis[2] Virola cuspidata uaupensis[2] Virola cuspidata[2] Virola theiodora Warb.[1]

Virola elongata (syn. Virola theiodora ) is a species of tree in the family Myristicaceae. The tree is native to Panama, Guyana, Brazil (Acre, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia and Roraima), Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.^[1][2] It is also found in Suriname.^[2] Virola elongata is thin and 7.5–23 m (25–75 ft) tall, sometimes 30 m (98 ft) tall.^[2]

The trunk is about 43 cm (17 in) in diameter, cylindrical and has smooth brown and gray bark. The fruit is ellipsoidal to subglobular, 11–20 mm (0.43–0.79 in) long, 10–15 m (33–49 ft) in diameter and comes in groups of 40.^[2] The tree is found in evergreen forests and in scrub up to 800 m (2,600 ft) in altitude.^[2]

The Yanomami people use the powdered resin as an entheogen known as nyakwána which is inhaled or "snuffed" into the nasal cavity, it contains a high concentration of 5-MeO-DMT and DMT.^[3]

Virola elongata extracts have weak antibacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus.^[4]

Fruit and seeds

Virola elongata fruit

Virola elongata seeds

References