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FAMILY :: RUBIACEAE
CHACRUNA: Very tender tropical shrub grown in part shade with well-drained acid soil and high humidity. Greenhouse culture is required in most of the temperate world but it is quite easily grown in the tropics and subtropics. Under the proper conditions, it grows rapidly and is propagated by leaf and stem cuttings. It is very difficult to grow from seed as only the freshest seeds will germinate.
Domatium (plural: domatia, from the Latin “domus”, meaning home) are usually associated with mites and often mediate mutualistic relationships with predacious mites. These structures are pockets found on the abaxial (underneath) side of a leaf, where the secondary vein meet the major vein.
The Rubiaceae family includes coffee, chinchona (quinine), kratom and gardenia, among many other useful species.
The leaves are very high in tryptamines and are one of the two main ingredients (along with Banisteriopsis caapi stems) in Amazon Ayahuasca potions and in the rituals of the Santo Daime religion.
See Banisteriopsis caapi for more information about ayahuasca.