Caupuri (Banisteriopsis Caapi) Ayahuasca Vine – Roughly Shredded Caapi Vine from Brazil

Roughly shredded “Caupuri” Ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) from Brazil. It has a unique appearance due to its large knots along its length. It is known as “A General” locally due to its physical strength. This vine was planted 25 years ago. Besides drying, no other treatment has taken place. It has been ethically cultivated and harvested.

The banana plant Banisteriopsis caapi is one of thousands of tropical plants in South America. These three plants are B. inebriens, B. caapi, and B. quitensis, and they are used together to prepare Ayahuasca. Banisteriopsis caapi is the best known of these three plants and the main ingredient in Ayahuasca. B. caapi vines come in a variety of subspecies depending on the region in which they grow.

As Banisteriopsis caapi contains only harmaline, a reversible MAO inhibitor, it is not hallucinogenic, but it could potentially enhance the effects of some drugs.

The geographical origin of the plant is unknown since it is cultivated throughout the entire Amazonian region. There are many tribes that use the plant in their religious traditions for millennia in Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Equador, Colombia, and other countries of the Amazon basin.

The bark of this liana is typically a chocolate-brown hue, and its leaves are opposite, with an oval shape, 8 to 18 cm long, and 3.5 to 8 cm wide. The upper surface of the leaves is glabrous. The flowers grow in axillary or terminal cymose panicles and measure 12 to 14 mm in diameter. Petals are 5 to 7 mm long and 4 to 5 mm wide, with a pink colour. This species reproduces through both vegetative and seed propagation; the latter being fan-shaped green seeds which turn brown with age.