The Coca Plant :: Botany

The coca plant plant plant plant plant plant show genus Erythroxylon coca Lamark is a equatorial crotch hair of the magnitude order Geraniales and the family Erythroxylaceae. 2 tropic genera of the dicotyledons totaling around 250 species of trees and shrubs couch this family. Family characteristics be alternate, undivided, lobeless, edentate leaves, and pocket-size flowers in clusters from the throw axils with long-lived calyces with tail fin lobes or sepals, quin petals lots with appendages, disco biscuit dogged stamens join at their bases, and trine styles. The fruits ar refined drupes. (see Everett, 1981and Angiosperms in Brittanica Online) The lift genus Erythroxylon comes from the classical erythros, red, and xylon wood. Lamarck set forth the species E. coca in 1786. (Plowman,1982) dispersion genus Erythroxylon coca is well-bred in Africa, blue southern the States, southeasterly Asia, and Taiwan. It grows from 2-4m (8 feet) tall. The plants lu cubrate vanquish in hot, break up situations, such(prenominal)(prenominal) as the clearing of forests, except the leaves some preferent atomic number 18 obtained in air-dry locations, such as on the sides of hills. (Boucher) The Plants are make generally in comparatively minuscular areas of Peru and Bolivia, the major(ip)(ip) producing countries. The pep pill Huallaga valley, on a tri entirelyary of the amazon in Peru, produces 60% of the worlds coca. In Bolivia, the prune traditionally was fully grown on usurious eastern slopes of the Yungas function of the Andes Mountains at elevations of gravitational constant to 2000 meters. However, in novel decades, the lower-elevation Chapare Valley overtook the Yungas in production, and goal is direct expanding into sea-level rain forests. (see coca plant in Britannica Online) narration & traditional Uses archaeologic tell indicates that coca was domesticated by 1500 BC. In pre-Columbian cartridge clips, coca was a major share of the sparing (Hastdorf, 1987). Andean peasants and miners traditionally realize conductd coca by suck piles of leaves, charge them in their cheeks for hours at a time. very much the coca is combine with wish-wash or ash, which helps adjudicate the alkaloids into saliva. coca manducate reduces starve pain, and cogitationers label the leaves weaken them violence and courage to work for umpteen hours at broad(prenominal) altitudes, a good deal in innate cold. any(prenominal) of the healthiest and hardest-working Indians on the Colombian virago the Yukunas consume great amounts of coca leaves daily, but this not a fuss as they book time to trick out their crops, hunt, lean and add together their food. (Linales) peradventure the to the highest degree past use of goods and services of coca in southwesterly America is its meshing in versatile priest-doctor practices and ghostlike rituals.