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Coriaria ruscifolia is a deciduous shrub from the Coriariaceae family, native to Mexico, Central America and South America. It is grown mainly as an ornamental shrub in temperate gardens, and the whole plant should be treated as poisonous.
Coriaria ruscifolia is a plant of the Coriariaceae family.
It is native to Mexico, Central America, and South America.
The fruits contain catechol derivatives and probably several sesquiterpenes. Sources state that a toxic substance coriamyrtine has been isolated from the plant. The effects are described as initially stimulating but then becoming less pleasant. Death from nervous exhaustion can result. Coriamyrtine is a sesquiterpene; other sesquiterpenes including coriatine, tutine, and pseudotutine have also been reported. Known in Chile as deu, dewü, huique, huiqui, and matarratones, it is reputed to be a toxic hallucinogen. The fruits are made into rat poison in Chile and are said to be lethal for small children. The Mapuche use a tea made from the leaves as an emetic.
In Ecuador, its fruits are reportedly eaten to produce an inebriated state. The eater is said to experience “sensations of soaring through the air”. The effects are said to be similar to those produced by Petunia violacea. Coriaria ruscifolia grows in Mexico as well; it has been suggested that it was the Aztec inebriant known as tlacopétatl. In the Las Huaringas region, a lake plateau in the northern Peruvian Andes, the local healers (curanderos) refer to Coriaria ruscifolia as contra-alergica, “against allergies.” They use the herbage to prepare a bath additive that they use to wash patients suffering from allergic reactions.
Coriaria angustissima · Tree Tutu · Coriaria kingiana · Mediterranean Coriaria · Masuri Berry · Feathery Tutu · Hikurangi Tutu · Coriaria pteridoides · Coriaria sarmentosa · Tutu
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Coriaria ruscifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
