Curare Curare
grows as a large liana, or vine, found in the
canopy of the South American rainforest. The vine
may get as thick as 4 inches in diameter at its
base. It has large alternate, heart-shaped leaves
which may be 4-8 inches long and almost as wide,
with a 2-6 inches long petiole. The leaves are
smooth on top with a hairy white bottom, and deeply
indented veins radiating from the leaf base.
Clusters of small (1/16-1/8 inches), greenish-white
flowers are made up of separate male and female
flowers. The Some Indians of South America crush and cook the roots and stems, and add other plants and venomous animals, mixing it until it becomes a light syrup. They call this mixture "ampi", or "curaré", which they use on the tip of their arrows and darts to hunt wild game. Crude curare is a dark brown or black mass with a sticky to hard consistency and an aromatic, tarry odor. The name comes from Indian word meaning "poison." The active ingredient in "curaré", D-tubocurarine, is used in medicine. Brazilians consider the root a diuretic, and use it internally in small quantities for madness and dropsy, and externally for bruises. It is also used for edema, fever, and kidney stones. Curare is an alkaloid, and acts as a neuromuscular blocking agent to produce paralysis in muscles. It first affects the muscles of the toes, ears, and eyes, then those of the neck, arms and legs, and finally, those involved in breathing. In fatal doses, death is caused by respiratory paralysis. Curare must get into the blood system for it to work. It doesn't hurt to eat something killed by a poisoned curare arrow, for instance. Geographic Location: Amazon Basin of South America. 2000
bibliography: "Curare", http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/html/botanytextbooks/economicbotany/Curare/ "Curare", http://peace.saumag.edu/faculty/Kardas/Courses/GPWeiten/C3BioBases/Curare.html "King's American Dispensatory: Curare" http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/eclectic/kings/curare.html
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