science

List of psychoactive plants

List of psychoactive plants is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of psychoactive plants rather than just read about it. In short: Psychoactive plants are plant species that, when consumed by humans, are known or suspected to produce changes in nervous system function that alter perception, mood, consciousness, cognition or behavior. Many of these plants are used intentionally as psychoactive drugs, for medicinal, religious, and/or recreational purposes.

Key takeaways

List of psychoactive plants belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of psychoactive plants to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of psychoactive plants from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Psychoactive plants are plant species that, when consumed by humans, are known or suspected to produce changes in nervous system function that alter perception, mood, consciousness, cognition or behavior. Many of these plants are used intentionally as psychoactive drugs, for medicinal, religious, and/or recreational purposes. Some have been used ritually as entheogens for millennia. These plants are listed according to the specific psychoactive chemical substances they contain; many contain multiple known psychoactive compounds.

Cannabinoids

Species of the genus Cannabis, known colloquially as marijuana, including Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica, are psychoactive plants that are often used both medically and recreationally. The principal psychoactive substance in Cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC contains no nitrogen, unlike many other psychoactive substances and is not an indole, tryptamine or phenethylamine. THC is just one of more than 100 identified cannabinoid compounds in Cannabis, which also include cannabinol (CBN) and cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabis strains vary widely with some producing dynamic balances of cannabinoids (THC, CBD, etc.) and yielding markedly different effects. Popular strains are often hybrids of C. sativa and C. indica. The medicinal effects of cannabis are widely studied, and are active topics of research both at universities and private research firms. Many jurisdictions have laws regulating or prohibiting the cultivation, sale and/or use of medical and recreational cannabis.

Tryptamines

Many of the psychedelic plants contain dimethyltryptamine (DMT), or other tryptamines, which are either snorted (Virola, Yopo snuffs), vaporized, or drunk with MAOIs (Ayahuasca). It cannot simply be eaten as it is not orally active without an MAOI, and must be extremely concentrated in order to be vaporized.

Aceraceae Acer saccharinum (silver maple) was found to contain the indole alkaloid gramine (not active and extremely toxic) 0.05% in the leaves, so it is possible that other members of this plant family contain active compounds.

Aizoaceae Delosperma cooperi, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT Delosperma ecklonis, DMT Delosperma esterhuyseniae, DMT Delosperma hallii, 5-MeO-DMT Delosperma harazianum, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT Delosperma harazianum Shibam, DMT Delosperma hirtum, DMT Delosperma hallii aff. litorale Delosperma lydenbergense, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT Delosperma nubigenum, 5-MeO-DMT Delosperma pageanum, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT Delosperma pergamentaceum, Traces of DMT Delosperma tradescantioides, DMT

Apocynaceae Prestonia amazonica: DMT Voacanga africana: Up to 10% Iboga alkaloids

Erythroxylaceae Erythroxylum pungens: DMT

Fabaceae (Leguminosae)

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of psychoactive plants

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of psychoactive plants claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of psychoactive plants before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of psychoactive plants ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of psychoactive plants

In research: List of psychoactive plants appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of psychoactive plants in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of psychoactive plants is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of plants, Medicinal plants, Psychoactive drugs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of psychoactive plants outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “List of psychoactive plants” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study List of psychoactive plants in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of psychoactive plants means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of psychoactive plants out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of psychoactive plants in simple terms?

Why does List of psychoactive plants matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of psychoactive plants?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of psychoactive plants.