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The Plant:
The Hawaiian Baby Woodrose (Argyreia nervosa), also known as the Elephant Creeper, is a large perennial vine which can grow up to a length of around 10 metres. It has no tendrils or clinging roots to help it climb, so the vines wrap themselves around nearby trees and structures in order to continue growing ever higher. Throughout summer they produce an abundance of delicate purple flowers which feed numerous insect species.
The History:
Originally from the Indian subcontinent where it is known as Vidhara () or Adhoguda (), it was used for many centuries in gardens due to its beauty, with some reports of usage in Ayurvedic medicine alongside other plants in the same family.
It was however the figurative ugly duckling of this family of plants, as the other members saw much more widespread usage in shamanic rituals, whereas Argyreia nervosa only came to prominence in the 1960-70s after the chemical composition of the seeds were determined to contain Lysergic Acid Amides.
Since then, Hawaiian Baby Woodrose has seen a large uptake in usage and popularity not only as a decorative vine, but also for its spiritual and psychedelic value.
The Chemistry:
The Hawaiian Baby Woodrose is known to produce several compounds of medical interest, the foremost of them being the various Ergolines present in the plants seeds. Among these are several Lysergic Acid Amides (similar in chemical structure to the illicit drug LSD) - which are notable for their psychedelic and hallucinogenic properties when ingested.
These substances act upon the serotonin 5-HT2A receptors in the brain to activate its action, which causes the neurons in which these receptors are present to become more excitable without necessarily switching them on or off.
