FAMILY :: AQUIFOLIACEAE
GUAYUSA: A strong stimulant with a high percentage of caffeine (up to 2%).
Guayusa is possibly contains the highest percentage of caffeine of any plant. The leaves are often boiled for use more than one time because of this high caffeine content.
It is said that drinking Guayusa tea may produce lucid dreams (The state of dreaming where you are aware that you are dreaming). Some people refer to it as the “watchman’s plant” because a person can remain aware even while sleeping.
This is a large shrub or small tree from the Amazon rain forests of Ecuador. Also used before ayahuasca ceremonies as internal bodily cleanser (because of its emetic properties) ayahuasca use and during to increase energy.
Requires more warmth and humidity to grow than Ilex paraguariensis, a similarly employed species. Tropical and it grows very well in Central Mexico, either in the ground or in large pots. Very rarely flowers.