Xorkoth
Bluelight Crew
My girlfriend is very into cultivating orchids. She was reading about a group of orchids which are used as entheogens - a collection of Oncidiums that got reclassified to "Trichocentrum". According to wiki:
I looked into phenanthrenoids, as I had never heard that term before. It's a structural backbone for a variety of compounds, which are found in nature in these orchids. From wiki:
If you check the wiki I linked to for phenanthrocenes, it gives links to a lot of what is mentioned above in the quote. Unfortunately I can't seem to find anything about their psychoactivity or pharmacology. Does anyone know anything about this? I'm super curious now. I had never heard of enthegenic orchids, and apparently one species substitutes for peyote for the Tarahumara people.
The Central and South American species Trichocentrum cebolleta (known formerly as Oncidium cebolleta) has been found to contain a variety of phenanthrenoids.[3] This species is of considerable ethnobotanical interest as one of only a handful of orchids reported to be used as an entheogens. T. cebolleta is used as a substitute for hikuli a.k.a. peyote (the hallucinogenic cactus Lophophora williamsii) by the Tarahumara of Northern Mexico - a tribe noted for the large number of hallucinogenic plants which it uses in various shamanic and running-related practices. The combination of phenanthrenoid content and employment as entheogens in shamanic practices is to be found also in the Asiatic orchids Vanda tessellata and Dendrobium macraei (- known formerly as Ephemerantha macraei and Flickingeria macraei - see page Flickingeria). The orchidaceous genera Trichocentrum, Vanda and Dendrobium are all members of the subfamily Epidendroideae and are also placed currently in the subgroup/clade of Higher Epidendroids within the subfamily.
I looked into phenanthrenoids, as I had never heard that term before. It's a structural backbone for a variety of compounds, which are found in nature in these orchids. From wiki:
In orchids
Phenanthrenes have been reported in species of Dendrobium, Bulbophyllum, Eria, Maxillaria, Bletilla, Coelogyne, Cymbidium, Ephemerantha and Epidendrum.[3]
3,4,8-Trimethoxyphenanthrene-2,5-diol is one of the 17 phenanthrenes found in the extract of the stems of the orchid Dendrobium nobile.[7][8]
From the stems of the orchid Flickingeria fimbriata, three phenanthrenes can be isolated. The structures are 2,5-dihydroxy-4,9,10-trimethoxyphenanthrene, 2,5-dihydroxy-4-methoxyphenanthrene and 2,5,9-trihydroxy-4-methoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene. These molecules are named plicatol A, B and C.[9]
Nudol is a phenanthrene of the orchids Eulophia nuda, Eria carinata and Eria stricta.[10] 9,10-Dihydro-2,5-dimethoxyphenanthrene-1,7-diol is a phenanthrene from Eulophia nuda. This compound shows cytotoxic activity against human cancer cells.[11]
2,7-Dihydroxy-3,6-dimethoxyphenanthrene is a phenanthrene from Dehaasia longipedicellata.[12]
Bulbophyllum gymnopus produces the phenanthrenediol gymnopusin.[13]
Bulbophyllum reptans contains gymnopusin, confusarin (2,7-dihydroxy-3,4,8-trimethoxyphenanthrene), 2,7-dihydroxy-3,4,6-trimethoxyphenanthrene and its 9,10-dihydro derivative, flavanthrinin (2,7-dihydroxy-4-methoxyphenanthrene) and its 9,10-dihydro derivative (coelonin), cirrhopetalanthrin (2,2′,7,7′-tetrahydroxy-4,4′-dimethoxy-1,1′-biphenanthryl), its 9,9′,10,10′-tetrahydro derivative (flavanthrin) and the dimeric phenanthrenes reptanthrin and isoreptanthrin.[14]
Bulbophyllum vaginatum contains the two phenanthrenes 4,9-dimethoxyphenanthrene-2,5-diol and 4,6-dimethoxyphenanthrene-2,3,7-triol, and the two dihydrophenanthrenes 4-methoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene-2,3,7-triol and 4,6-dimethoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene-2,3,7-triol.[15]
Coelogyne cristata contains coeloginanthridin (3,5,7-trihydroxy-1,2-dimethoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene), a 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene derivative, and coeloginanthrin (3,5,7-trihydroxy-1,2-dimethoxyphenanthrene), the corresponding phenanthrene analogue, coelogin and coeloginin.[16]
Orchinol and loroglossol have a phytoalexin effect and reduce the growth of Cattleya aurantiaca seedlings.[17]
The phenanthrenes 2,5-dihydroxy-3,4-dimethoxyphenanthrene, 9,10-dihydro-2,5-dihydroxy-3,4-dimethoxyphenanthrene, 2,7-dihydroxy-3,4-dimethoxyphenanthrene (nudol), 9,10-dihydro-2,7-dihydroxy-3,4-dimethoxyphenanthrene, 2,5-dihydroxy-3,4,9-trimethoxyphenanthrene and 2,7-dihydroxy-3,4,9-trimethoxyphenanthrene can be isolated from Maxillaria densa.[18]
Cirrhopetalanthrin is a dimeric phenanthrene derivative from Cirrhopetalum maculosum.[19]
Glycosides
Five phenanthrene glycosides, denneanoside A, B, C, D and E and one 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene glycoside, denneanoside F, can be isolated from the stem of Dendrobium denneanum.[20]
If you check the wiki I linked to for phenanthrocenes, it gives links to a lot of what is mentioned above in the quote. Unfortunately I can't seem to find anything about their psychoactivity or pharmacology. Does anyone know anything about this? I'm super curious now. I had never heard of enthegenic orchids, and apparently one species substitutes for peyote for the Tarahumara people.