''Acacia confusa'' is a perennial tree native to South-East Asia. Some common names for it are acacia petit feuille, Ayangile, small Philippine acacia, Formosa acacia (Taiwan acacia), Philippine Wattle, and Formosan koa. It grows to a height of 15 m. The tree has become very common in many tropical Pacific areas, including Hawaii, where the species is considered invasive.

Uses

The wood has a density of about 0.75 g/cm³. In

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, its wood was used to make support beams for underground mines. Acacia confusa is challenging to work and for this reason was traditionally burned as firewood or turned into charcoal in Taiwan. In later years it was exported to China to be made into wood flooring for the American market. At its height Taiwan exported more than 1,000 containers of Taiwan acacia to China. More recently it has been used domestically to produce high value wood products like musical instruments, furniture, and bathtubs. The wood is also converted to

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

for family use. The plant is used in traditional medicine and is available from herbal medicine shops (草藥店) in Taiwan, but there has been no clinical study to support its effectiveness.

Phytochemicals

Phytochemical Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants, generally to help them resist fungi, bacteria and plant virus infections, and also consumption by insects and other animals. The name comes . Some phytochemicals have been used as poisons ...

s found in ''Acacia confusa'':

Root bark

N-Methyltryptamine ''N''-Methyltryptamine (NMT) is a member of the substituted tryptamine chemical class and a natural product which is biosynthesized in the human body from tryptamine by certain N-methyltransferase enzymes, such as indolethylamine ''N''-methyltra ...

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine ''N'',''N''-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT or ''N'',''N''-DMT, SPL026) is a substituted tryptamine that occurs in many plants and animals, including human beings, and which is both a derivative and a structural analog of tryptamine. It is used as a ...

Seeds

Oxalyldiaminopropionic acid Oxalyldiaminopropionic acid (ODAP) is a structural analogue of the neurotransmitter glutamate found in the grass pea ''Lathyrus sativus''. It is the neurotoxin responsible for the motor neuron degeneration syndrome lathyrism. Sources ODAP is foun ...

(α-amino-β-oxalylaminopropionic acid), which can cause neurological damage,

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

, and death.

Stems

*N-Methyltryptamine, 0.04%

Varieties

* ''Acacia confusa'' var. ''inamurai'' Hayata

References

External links

Erowid Acacia vaultAcacia confusa at DMT-Nexus wikiAcacia confusa Merr.
Medicinal Plant Images Database (School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University) {{Taxonbar, from=Q1316058 confusa Medicinal plants of Asia Least concern plants Ayahuasca Entheogens Herbal and fungal hallucinogens Psychedelic tryptamine carriers