View source for Rivea corymbosa

{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Rivea corymbosa''
| image = Rivea corymbosa 1838.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = ''Rivea corymbosa'' flowers
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| subregnum = [[Tracheobionta]]
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Solanales]]
| familia = [[Convolvulaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Rivea]]''
| species = '''''R. corymbosa'''''
| binomial = ''Rivea corymbosa''
| binomial_authority = ([[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]) Hallier f.
| synonyms = ''Convolvulus corymbosus'' <small>[[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]</small><br/>''Turbina corymbosa'' <small>([[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]) [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Raf.]]</small><br/>''Ipomoea corymbosa'' <small>([[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]) Roth</small><br/>''Ipomoea burmannii'' <small>Choisy</small>
}}

'''''Rivea corymbosa''''' (common synonym: ''Turbina corymbosa''), is a species of [[morning glory]] plants, native throughout [[Latin America]] from [[Mexico]] in the North to [[Peru]] in the South and widely naturalised elsewhere. It is a [[perennial plant|perennial]] climbing [[vine]] with white flowers, often planted as an [[ornamental plant]]. This plant also occurs in [[Cuba]], where it usually blooms from early December to February. Its flowers secrete copious amount of nectar, and the [[honey]] the bees make from it is very clear and aromatic. It is considered one of the main honey plants from the island.

Known to natives of [[Mexico]] as '''Ololiúqui''' (also spelled '''ololiuhqui''' or '''ololiuqui'''), its seeds, while little known outside of [[Mexico]], were perhaps the most common [[Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants|hallucinogenic drug]] used by the natives.

In [[1941]], [[Richard Evans Schultes]] first identified ololiuhqui as ''Rivea corymbosa'' and the chemical composition was first described on [[August 18]], [[1960]], in a paper by [[Albert Hofmann|Dr. Albert Hofmann]]. The seeds contain [[ergine]] (LSA), an [[ergoline]] [[alkaloid]] similar in structure to [[LSD]].

The [[Nahuatl]] word ''ololiuhqui'' means "round thing", and refers to the small, brown, oval seeds of the morning glory, not the plant itself, which is called ''coaxihuitl'', "snake-plant", in Nahuatl, and ''hiedra'' or ''bejuco'' in the [[Spanish language]]. The seeds, in Spanish, are sometimes called ''semilla de la Virgen'' (seeds of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Virgin Mary]]).

The seeds are also used by Native curers in order to gain knowledge in curing practices and ritual, as well as the causes for the illness.

== External links ==
*[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=TUCO PLANTS database entry]
*[http://www.erowid.org/plants/morning_glory/morning_glory.shtml Erowid Morning Glory vault]

{{Commons|Rivea corymbosa}}

{{Ergolines}}

[[Category:Convolvulaceae]]
[[Category:Entheogens]]
[[Category:Herbal and fungal hallucinogens]]
[[Category:Natural sources of lysergamides]]
[[Category:Flora of Mexico]]
[[Category:Flora of Cuba]]
[[Category:Flora of Peru]]