Potency Wood

Synonyms Dulacia inopiflora (Miers) O. Kuntze, D. ovata (Miers) K., Liriosma inopiflora Miers, L. micrantha Spruce ex Engl. This small tree, which grows to a height of only about 15 meters, comes from tropical South America (the Amazon basin). The wood of the trunk and roots is marketed internationally under the name lignum muira puama and is esteemed chiefly as an aphrodisiac (potency wood!) and nerve tonic (600 to 1,200 mg) (Gottlieb 1974, 54*; Stark 1984, 87*). Small pieces of the wood are added to a number of psychoactive smoking blends. It is sometimes claimed that the wood produces not just erotic but also psychoactive effects. The constituents are completely unknown (Schweins and Sonnenborn 1993, 706). The dried roots of a related tree, Ptychopetalum olacoides Benth., are also sold under the same name (lignum muira puama and also radix muira puama). These roots contain a mixture of esters composed of the behenic acid ester of lupeol (0.4 to 0.50/0), phytosterols, and an essential oil consisting of camphene, camphor, ~-caryophyllene, a-humulene, and aand ~-pinene.This root is said to have aphrodisiac effects. Experimental and pharmacological studies, however, are lacking (Brand 1994,308 f.).

Literature (selection) Brand, Norbert. 1994. Ptychopetalum. In Ragers Randbuch der pharmazeutischen Praxis, 5th ed., 6:307-10. Berlin: Springer. Schweins, Sabine, and Ulrich Sonnenborn. 1993. Liriosma. In Ragers Randbuch der pharmazeutischen Praxis, 5th ed., 5:706-7. Berlin: Springer.