Psychotria viridis, also known as chacruna, chacrona, or chaqruy in the Quechua languages, is a perennial, shrubby flowering plant in the coffee family Rubiaceae. It is a close relative of Psychotria carthagenensis (a.k.a. samiruka or amiruca) of Ecuador. It is one half of ayahuasca, a decoction with a long history of its entheogenic (connecting to spirit) use and its status as a "plant teacher" among the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Habitat GIFTFloresta Ciliar ou Galeria, Floresta de Várzea, Floresta Ombrófila (= Floresta Pluvial)
Woodinesswoody
Physiology & chemistry3
Leaf n27.73 mg/g
Nitrogen fixingnon_nitrogen_fixer
Specific leaf area (SLA)21.06 mm²/mg
03Chemical composition1 compounds
Compounds documented for Psychotria viridis across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile1 class
Cycloartane triterpenoids1
Documented compounds1 total
Compound
Class
Amount
Source
3beta-24-Methylenecycloartan-3-ol
present
LOTUS
05DNA & barcoding5 specimens
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Psychotria viridis has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens5
Marker genes3
eDNA detections2
Countries2
Marker genes sequenced
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★COI-5P★ITStrnH-psbA
animal barcodefungal barcodemarker
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type794 records
Wild obs. + sensor50
Museum / vouchered744
Origin
Native42
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO1 460 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy78% within 1 km
≤100 m 27≤1 km 4≤10 km 4>10 km 5
40 georeferenced · 10 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor50
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy29% within 1 km
≤100 m 4≤1 km 6≤10 km 14>10 km 11
35 georeferenced · 709 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence744
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions37 of 87 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Saint Louis, US
269
Bronx, US
43
Universiti Sains Malaysialocation not on record
32
MAlocation not on record
31
La Paz, BO
28
Herbario Selva Central Oxapampa - estación biológica del Jardín Botánico de Missourilocation not on record
25
Chicago, US
25
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
23
Kew, GB
22
National Biodiversity Institute, Costa Ricalocation not on record
17
JBRJlocation not on record
13
UnBlocation not on record
11
Museo Nacional de Costa Rica (MNCR)location not on record
9
Mexico City, MX
8
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, BO
7
HUT Culture Collectionlocation not on record
7
Cusco, PE
7
UEPAlocation not on record
6
UFAClocation not on record
6
Tampa, US
6
Aarhus, DK
5
Barcelona, ES
5
QCNElocation not on record
5
Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL)location not on record
5
Cochabamba, BO
4
San José, CR
4
Lima, PE
4
Xiamen, CN
4
UNICAMPlocation not on record
4
Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas - SINCHIlocation not on record
4
Wlocation not on record
3
South Kensington, GB
3
Instituto para la Investigación y la Preservación del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural del Valle del Cauca - INCIVAlocation not on record
3
Cenargenlocation not on record
3
Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (UPTC)location not on record
3
Austin, US
3
Brasília, BR
3
MeiseBGlocation not on record
3
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
2
Istituto Agrario Castelnuovolocation not on record
2
Vancouver, CA
2
Iquitos, PE
2
Quito, EC
2
Universidade Federal do Ceara, Departamento de Biologialocation not on record
2
Göteborg, SE
2
Masindi, UG
2
UFABClocation not on record
2
Universidad de Caldas (UCaldas)location not on record
2
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record
2
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)location not on record
2
Universidad de Nariño (UdeNar)location not on record
1
Seropédica, BR
1
Fort Worth, US
1
UERJlocation not on record
1
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
1
Riobamba, EC
1
Honolulu, US
1
UFRRJlocation not on record
1
Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabascolocation not on record
1
Porto Velho, BR
1
Instituto para la Investigación y la Preservación del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural del Valle del Cauca - INCIVAlocation not on record
1
Jena Microbial Resource Collectionlocation not on record
1
University of Southern Mississippilocation not on record
1
Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record
1
Tuscaloosa, US
1
Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA)location not on record
1
Guatemala City, GT
1
UNESP-FCAVlocation not on record
1
Arequipa, PE
1
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldilocation not on record
1
San Isidro, AR
1
DOI/NPS, Mississippi National River & Recreation Arealocation not on record
1
León, NI
1
Corrientes, AR
1
Berlin, DE
1
Universidad de la Amazonia (UniAmazonia)location not on record
1
Los Amigos Wildlife Conservation Laboratorylocation not on record
1
Austin, US
1
Cibinong Science Center, Herbarium Bogorienselocation not on record
1
UFMGlocation not on record
1
BISHlocation not on record
1
Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, (CSIC-UPF)location not on record
1
Laboratorio de Ictiologialocation not on record
1
PUC-RIOlocation not on record
1
QAPlocation not on record
1
Fortaleza, BR
1
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
1
87 institutions · 724 of 744 vouchered records shown · 20 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA2 detections
Where the DNA of Psychotria viridis was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found2
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 2 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median24.9 °C 24.9–24.9
Seasonal swing summer↔winter2.60 °C
Max temp (day)28.5 °C
Min temp (night)22.0 °C
Precipitation191 mm/mo
Air humidity66.6 %
Moisture balance62.2 mm/mo
Vapour deficit1,047 Pa
Wind speed1.40 m/s
Cloud cover55.1 %
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 1 detection point · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation11 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility794 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI2 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics5 specimens↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗