''Psychotria nervosa'', also known as Seminole balsamo or wild coffee, is a shade tolerant medium-sized

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

native to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

as well as the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. It produces a "small, red, ellipsoid fruit" that resembles " the true coffee bean" in shape and attract birds. Its maximum height ranges from approximately 4–10 feet. Psychotria nervosa leaves

Despite its common name of wild coffee, this species is not known to contain any

caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine t ...

. In recounting anecdotes from others, the Florida ethnobotanist, Dan Austin, reported that the use of the seeds as a

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

substitute resulted in "only bad taste and terrible headaches." A similar account reported no known usage as a coffee substitute in Jamaica and noted the morphological similarity of its seed to coffee,Pinkley, H.V. 1969. Etymology of Psychotria in view of a new use of the genus. Rhodora 71: 535-540. the more likely reason for its common name being wild coffee. Reports of

DMT ''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 ...

in this species are also unsubstantiated.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3410207 Flora of Florida nervosa Plants described in 1788 Taxa named by Olof Swartz