''Ovidia'' Meissn. is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of plants in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Thymelaeaceae. (''Ovidia'' Raf. is a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

for ''

Commelina ''Commelina'' is a genus of approximately 170 species commonly called dayflowers due to the short lives of their flowers. They are less often known as widow's tears. It is by far the largest genus of its family, Commelinaceae. The Swedish taxonom ...

''.) ,

The Plant List The Plant List was a list of botanical names of species of plants created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden and launched in 2010. It was intended to be a comprehensive record of all known names of plant species ...

accepts three species: *''

Ovidia andina ''Ovidia'' Meissn. is a genus of plants in the family Thymelaeaceae. (''Ovidia'' Raf. is a synonym for ''Commelina''.) , The Plant List accepts three species: *'' Ovidia andina'' (Poepp. & Endl.) Meisn. *''Ovidia pillopillo'' (Gay) Meisn. *' ...

'' (Poepp. & Endl.)

Meisn. Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner (1 November 1800 – 2 May 1874) was a Swiss botanist. Biography Born in Bern, Switzerland on 1 November 1800, he was christened Meisner but later changed the spelling of his name to Meissner. For most of his 40 ...

*''

Ovidia pillopillo ''Ovidia'' Meissn. is a genus of plants in the family Thymelaeaceae. (''Ovidia'' Raf. is a synonym for ''Commelina''.) , The Plant List accepts three species: *'' Ovidia andina'' (Poepp. & Endl.) Meisn. *'' Ovidia pillopillo'' (Gay) Meisn. * ...

'' (Gay) Meisn. *''

Ovidia sericea ''Ovidia'' Meissn. is a genus of plants in the family Thymelaeaceae. (''Ovidia'' Raf. is a synonym for ''Commelina''.) , The Plant List accepts three species: *''Ovidia andina'' (Poepp. & Endl.) Meisn. *''Ovidia pillopillo'' (Gay) Meisn. *'' ...

'' C. Antezana & Z.S. Rogers

Alleged use as entheogen

''O. pillopillo'' has been claimed to be 'one of the four major

hallucinogen Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized ...

s’ used by the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...

of Chile. The other three plant species involved are drawn from a list including ''

Latua pubiflora ''Latua pubiflora'' (Griseb.) Baillon, (common name in Spanish language, Spanish: ''árbol de los brujos'', ''tree of the sorcerers'') is the single species of the Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus ''Latua'' Phil., Endemism, endemic to the coasta ...

'', ''

Desfontainia spinosa ''Desfontainia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Columelliaceae, though it was placed formerly in Loganiaceae, Potaliaceae (later subsumed in Gentianaceae), or a family of its own, Desfontainiaceae. The genus was named for the Fre ...

'', ''

Drimys winteri ''Drimys winteri'', the winter's bark or canelo, is a slender tree in the family Winteraceae, growing up to tall. It is native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate rain forests of Chile and Argentina, where it is a dominant tree in the coas ...

'', ''

Lobelia tupa ''Lobelia tupa'' is a species of ''Lobelia'' native to central Chile from Valparaíso south to Los Lagos regions.Flora Chilena''Lobelia tupa''/ref> Lobelia tupa is an evergreen perennial plant which grows up to 4 m tall and thrives in dry soils ...

'' and ''

Datura stramonium ''Datura stramonium'', known by the common names thorn apple, jimsonweed (jimson weed), devil's snare, or devil's trumpet, is a poisonous flowering plant of the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is a species belonging to the ''Datura'' genus a ...

''. The specific name ''pillopillo'' is one of the common names for the plant in the

Mapudungun Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

language - another of which is ''Lloime'' - while a Spanish common name ''Palo hediondo'' ("Stinking tree") apparently refers to the unpleasant smell of the foliage. Chilefora records the plant as being "poisonous" (without further detail) - a far from uncommon property in the Thymelaeaceae, a predominantly Southern Hemisphere plant family containing many species used to manufacture paper and cordage and likewise many toxic species with violently purgative properties, though few yet known to be psychoactive.Chileflora: Ovidia pillopillo http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/FloraEnglish/HighResPages/EH0395.htm Retrieved at 10.38 on 5/9/20. Neither

Claude Gay Claude Gay, often named Claudio Gay in Spanish texts, (March 18, 1800 – November 29, 1873), was a French botanist, naturalist and illustrator. This explorer carried out some of the first investigations about Chilean flora, fauna, geology and geo ...

's original description of the plant (as ''Daphne pillopillo''), nor Murillo's oft-quoted account in his classic work on the medicinal plants of Chile make any mention of any effects of ''Ovidia pillopillo'' on the CNS, both of which suggest that Rätsch may be in error claiming the plant to be hallucinogenic (although this by no means rules out a rôle for the plant of some other kind in Mapuche ritual).

References

Thymelaeoideae Malvales genera {{Thymelaeaceae-stub