''Ovidia'' Meisn. is a genus of plants in the family Thymelaeaceae native to Bolivia and southern South America. (''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 ...

''.) ,

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

accepts two 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. (synonym ''O. pillopillo'' ) – southern Argentina and southern Chile *''

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. *'' ...

'' Antezana & Z.S.Rogers – Bolivia

Alleged use as entheogen

''O. pillopillo'' has been claimed to be 'one of the four major hallucinogens’ used by the Mapuche of Chile. The other three plant species involved are drawn from a list including '' Latua pubiflora'', '' Desfontainia spinosa'', '' Drimys winteri'', '' Lobelia tupa'' and '' Datura stramonium''. 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 Thymelaeaceae genera Flora of Southern America Taxa described in 1857 Taxa named by Carl Meissner {{Thymelaeaceae-stub