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Mitragyna spp. |
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Shaman Australis Ethnobotanicals (Mitragyna speciosa - Kratom - Plants for sale internationally)
Mitragyna
speciosa
Kratom
| Special Notices |
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omprehensive
summary of information available for this species - F.A.Q. by Murple!! |
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In 2003 most Kratom
Herb, Kratom acetate &Mitragynine acetate
on the market was fake.
Click here for details
(virtually all herb on market in and after 2004 is the real thing - from
Indonesia) |
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Since 2000 several Indian seed distributors have sold Mitragyna
parvifolia seed intentionally mislabelled as M.speciosa seed. This
means that any seed offered anywhere in the world is unlikely to be the
real thing. There is no commercial source of M.speciosa seed anywhere
at this point. |
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Legal
WARNING:
Mitragynine and any preparation containing it (incl dried herb!!) were
scheduled S9 in Australia as from 1st of May 2004.
Mitragyna speciosa (the live plant) has also been scheduled S9, which
took effect on the 1st of January 2005. This makes possession, sale, cultivation
and consumption a jailable offence.
(S9 is the schedule that contains all illegal drugs such as speed, heroin,
cannabis, etc) |
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Shaman
Australis Botanicals and Wandjina Gardens no longer sell or possess any
Mitragyna speciosa plants or cultures. Please do not bother asking us
for them. This
page is provided for educational and historical purposes only. |
Botanical information
An evergreen tropical tree, it grows to a height of 15m with a spread
of 5m. The stem is erect and branching; the leaves are glossy and dark green,
opposite and ovate-acuminate; the flowers are yellow and occurr in spheres.
A native of Thailand and Malaysia, it prefers humus rich, wet soils in a protected
position, and is drought and frost tender. Seedlings need to be very well protected
from sun and wind, but the maturing plant is quite hardy.
Propagation is by very fresh seed or by cuttings (low strike rate due to endogenous
fungus attacking the xylem tissue). Seed viability decreases in a matter of
days and any seed offered for sale is bound to be unviable!!
The "Robert Rifat Clone" is cultured from a plant we grew from seed
under sterile conditions. This seed was collected in Thailand by Claude
Rifat, a dear friend of ours and was sourced from a research institution.
The parent tree was properly identified by botanists at the facility and has been
the subject of several studies of this species.
The "Craig's Clone" is also cultured under sterile conditions from seed.
This seed was sourced by one of the most active researchers in this field at that
time (1999). Most of the material provided in 2000 to the leading lights of the
ethnobotany community for research has the same origin as the seed and forms much
of the early internet feedback on this species. The seed was collected in Thailand
from trees that were used by the locals as favoured plants for the production
of kratom. The collector was however told by the farmers that the seedgrown plants
are very unreliable. They supposedly change from one leaf form to another (and
sometimes back again) and at the same time also changing their pharmacology. About
50% of the offspring is supposed to be useless for harvesting. We only managed
to grow one seedling to a size where it can be propagated efficiently, however
in 2001 this clone became unrecoverable. A major issue of concern to us was the
fact that the seedheads look somewhat different to the textbook pictures and also
different to the "Robert Rifat Clone". Furthermore it appears that the
flowering time is in January, rather than July (as is the case with the "Robert
Rifat Clone"), however this may be due to the equatorial seasons of the region.
We feel that it is possible that the parent of this seed is a hybrid. Many plants
have been grown from the same seed in the capable hands of Rob Montgomery (BPC)
and others in the US ethnobotany community. Out of respect for Rob Montgomery
and his friends we did not further develop the 'Craig clone', but instead kept
it in a long term storage medium from which it at some stage failed to recover
(a common risk we were well aware of).
Traditional uses
Mitragyna speciosa is only used in it's native country Thailand, where it is
highly illegal. It is often used to replace opium consumption as a cheaper alternative
and has a similar effect in that it can cause 'stoned' and lazy effects. It
is also used to interrupt opium addiction and may be useful in the treatment
of heroin addiction. A few leaves are either smoked, prepared as tea or made
into a resin extract. Smoking is the least efficient method. The effects of
kratom last for several hours and only very small quantities are needed to achieve
the desired effect. There appears to be no psychedelic activity and heavy use
usually results in prolonged sleep phases. One of the side effects of Kratom
consumption is constipation and this is made use of in folkmedicine to treat
diarrhoe. Many Mitragynas and related species are used medicinally and as fine
hardwood timber.
Pharmacology
The active principle of Kratom has long been assumed to be mitragynine, an indole
alkaloid superficially resembling yohimbine and also somewhat related to psilocybin
and LSD. It makes up about half of the total alkaloid content of 0.5% in the leaves.
Other indole alkaloids present are ajmalicine, corynanthedine, mitraphylline,
mitraversine, and more. Recently it has been found that the main active constituent
is in fact the 7-hydroxy derivative of mitragynine. The effect of mitragynine
is comparable to cocaine in that it is stimulating in small doses and narcotic
in larger doses. 7-hydroxymitragynine appears to have a more sedating effect and
is many times more potent than mitragynine. Research indicates that mitragynine
attaches to the delta-opiate receptor site, which is closely related to the mu-opiate
receptor site. This is significant, as heroin/opiate addiction is usually due
to overstimulation of the mu-opiate receptors. Although mitragynine does not attach
directly to the appropriate receptor site, it's attraction to the neighbouring
site and the spill over effect onto the mu-site produces a similar effect in the
user and satisfies the craving for the opiate. While it is rarely advisable to
treat one drug addiction by replacing it with another (as is done so frequently
in modern medicine), indole alkaloids -including mitragynine- are usually non-addictive
and in many cases anti-addictive. This may leave the drug user free from his opiate
addiction after only a few weeks treatment with kratom, which he can moderate
himself. It appears that many Thais utilise these properties to control their
opium consumption, similar to the way we advocate Naltrexone™ treatment in
the west.
Click on Thumbnails to see full size/high resolution picture! (in new
window)
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M.speciosa seedling
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M.speciosa seedling
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M.speciosa flower
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M.speciosa seed cluster
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M.speciosa TC clone
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M.speciosa TC clone
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M.speciosa TC clone
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M.speciosa TC clone
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M.speciosa tree
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M.speciosa First TC clone (planted by Christian Rätsch
& Claudia Müller-Ebeling in Australia 2002)
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