Latua
Genus of flowering plants in the tomato family Solanaceae / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Latua pubiflora (common name in Spanish: árbol de los brujos, tree of the sorcerers) is the single species of the monotypic genus Latua, endemic to the coastal mountains of southern Chile. A shrub or small tree to 10 m in height, bearing attractive, magenta-to-red, hummingbird-pollinated flowers, it is extremely poisonous – hallucinogenic (deliriant) in smaller doses – due to tropane alkaloid content and is used by Chilean machi (shamans) of the Mapuche–Huilliche people in traditional medicine, as a poison and to enter trance states. Its elegant flowers and yellow tomato-like fruit are attractive enough to merit cultivation as an ornamental (despite the extreme toxicity).[2][3][4]
Latua | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Solanales |
Family: | Solanaceae |
Subfamily: | Solanoideae |
Genus: | Latua Phil. |
Species: | L. pubiflora |
Binomial name | |
Latua pubiflora | |
Synonyms[1] | |
Latua venenosa Phil. |