Virola elongata | |
---|---|
Virola elongata 1860 Illustration | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Magnoliids |
Order: | Magnoliales |
Family: | Myristicaceae |
Genus: | Virola |
Species: | V. elongata
|
Binomial name | |
Virola elongata | |
Synonyms | |
|
Virola elongata (syn. Virola theiodora ) is a species of tree in the family Myristicaceae. The tree is native to Panama, Guyana, Brazil ( Acre, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia and Roraima), Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. [1] [2] It is also found in Suriname. [2] Virola elongata is thin and 7.5–23 m (25–75 ft) tall, sometimes 30 m (98 ft) tall. [2]
The trunk is about 43 cm (17 in) in diameter, cylindrical and has smooth brown and gray bark. The fruit is ellipsoidal to subglobular, 11–20 mm (0.43–0.79 in) long, 10–15 m (33–49 ft) in diameter and comes in groups of 40. [2] The tree is found in evergreen forests and in scrub up to 800 m (2,600 ft) in altitude. [2]
The Yanomami people use the powdered resin as an entheogen known as nyakwána which is inhaled or "snuffed" into the nasal cavity, it contains a high concentration of 5-MeO-DMT and DMT. [3]
Virola elongata extracts have weak antibacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus. [4]