10 Ipomoea pes-capre ssp brasiliensis Seeds - Goats foot, Strand patat - Indigenous Morning Glory

Ipomoea pes-capre ssp brasiliensis Seeds

The genus Ipomoea is the largest in the family Convolvulaceae, with over 500 species. Most of these are called "morning glories", but this can refer to related genera also. Human use of Ipomoea is threefold: First, most species have spectacular, colorful flowers and are often grown as ornamental plants. Their deep flowers attract large moths and even hummingbirds. Second, the genus includes food crops; the tubers of Sweet Potato and the leaves of Water Spinach are commercially important food items and have been for millennia. The root called John the Conqueror is used in luck and sexual charm usually seems to be from I. jalapa. The testicle-like dried tubers are carried as an amulet and rubbed by the user to gain good luck in gambling or flirting. The third way humans use Ipomoea is due to these plants' content of medically and psychoactive compounds, mainly alkaloids. Some species are renowned for their properties in folk medicine and herbalism. Kiribadu Ala is one of the many ingredients of chyawanprash, the ancient Ayurvedic tonic called "the elixir of life" for its wide-ranging properties. Other species were and still are as a potent entheogen. Seeds of Mexican Morning Glory were thus used by Aztecs and Zapotecs in shamanistic and priestly divination rituals, and at least by the former also as a poison, to give the victim a "horror trip". Beach Moonflower was also used thus, and the cultivars called Heavenly Blue Morning Glory, touted today for their psychoactive properties, seem to represent an indeterminable assembly or hybrids of these two species.
Responsible for the entheogenic activity are probably ergoline derivatives (lysergamides). Ergine (LSA), isoergine, D-lysergic acid N-(α-hydroxyethyl)amide and lysergol have been isolated from I. tricolor, I. violacea and I. purpurea. Ergine induces drowsiness and a relaxed state and might be useful in treating anxiety disorder.