''Solandra'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the

nightshade The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orna ...

family,

Solanaceae The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orn ...

. It is named after the Swedish naturalist Daniel C. Solander. The

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

s it contains are commonly known as chalice vines and are native to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

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 ...

. They have very large flowers and glossy foliage. Also called Cup of Gold. ''Solandra grandiflora'' was once (and likely still is) used by the

Huichol The Huichol or Wixárika are an indigenous people of Mexico and the United States living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango, as well as in the United States in the states of California, ...

of Mexico and other tribes of the region where it is known by the name "kieli" or "kieri" with some archaeological evidence supporting the theory that its use as a hallucinogen predates that of peyote (''

Lophophora williamsii The peyote (; ''Lophophora williamsii'' ) is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. ''Peyote'' is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl (), meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root , "to gl ...

''). A

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

from the branches and more so from the roots and fruits is used as an inebriant in native traditions. The

alkaloids Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar st ...

present include

atropine Atropine is a tropane alkaloid and anticholinergic medication used to treat certain types of nerve agent and pesticide poisonings as well as some types of slow heart rate, and to decrease saliva production during surgery. It is typically given i ...

, noratropine,

hyoscyamine Hyoscyamine (also known as daturine or duboisine) is a naturally occurring tropane alkaloid and plant toxin. It is a secondary metabolite found in certain plants of the family Solanaceae, including henbane, mandrake, angel's trumpets, jimsonweed ...

, and

tropine Tropine is a derivative of tropane containing a hydroxyl group at the third carbon. It is also called 3-tropanol. Tropine is a central building block of many chemicals active in the nervous system, including tropane alkaloids. Some of these comp ...

with about 0.15% overall content in the leaves. In all ten species are recognized: * '' Solandra boliviana'' * '' Solandra brachycalyx'' * '' Solandra brevicalyx'' * '' Solandra grandiflora'' * '' Solandra guerrerensis'' * '' Solandra guttata'' * '' Solandra longiflora'' * '' Solandra maxima'' * '' Solandra nizandensis'' * '' Solandra paraensis''

Selected species

References

External links

Solandra longiflora from Ecuador
2013
USDA GRIN database: ''Solandra''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q136929 Solanoideae Solanaceae genera Vines Taxa named by Olof Swartz