Silene capensis

Taxobox
name = "Silene capensis"


image_width =
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Caryophyllales
familia = Caryophyllaceae
subfamilia = Caryophylloideae
genus = "Silene"
species = "S. capensis"
binomial = "Silene capensis"
binomial_authority = Silene capensis (syn. Silene undulata) (also known as African Dream Root) is a plant native to the Eastern Cape of South Africa, where is regarded by the Xhosa people as a sacred plant. Its root is traditionally used to induce vivid (and according to the Xhosa, prophetic) lucid dreams during the initiation process of shamans, classifying it a naturally-occurring oneirogen similar to the more well-known dream herb "Calea zacatechichi".

In Cultivation it is an easily grown but moisture hungry herb, but tolerant of extreme heat (+40C) and moderate cold (-5C). A moisture retentive seedbed is essential.It acts a biennial to short lived perrennial and the root can be harvested after the second year.

External links