Poisons & Living off the SW Land

Poisons

• Curare

  • Derived from Strychnos toxifera & Chondrodendron tomentosum. Strychnos toxifera

  • Origin: South America.

  • Acts as a nerve toxin.

  • Used by native Amazonians for hunting with poison arrows.

  • Richard Shultes sought Curare and Rubber in the Amazon during WWII.

  • Muscle relaxant, valuable in early surgery alongside anesthesia.

Tropane Alkaloids

• Examples: Atropine, hyoscyamine, scopolamine.

  • Highly toxic, leading to coma and respiratory arrest.
    Brugmansia aurea (scopolamine), also known as:

  • Golden trumpets.

  • Borrachero tree.

  • Devil’s Breath.

  • All plant parts are toxic.

  • Solanaceae Poisons: Jimsonweed, Locoweed (Datura spp.).

Backyard and Campus Dangers

• Oleander (Nerium oleander)

  • Found in yards, including UTEP.

  • Contains 50+ toxic compounds, including cardioactive glycosides.

  • Dangerous for children; smoke from burning can be lethal.

• Rhododendron & Azalea (Ericaceae)

  • Used in landscaping.

  • Contain grayanotoxins (terpenes) that block nervous regulation of the heart.

  • Toxins can be present in honey made from these plants.

• Mountain Laurel, Mescal Bean (Dermatophyllum secundiflorum)

  • Contains Citisine, a psychoactive alkaloid similar to nicotine.

  • Used by native peoples in rituals for hallucinatory effects.

  • Dosage requires caution due to risk of respiratory system paralysis.

• Castor Bean (Ricinus communis)

  • Contains ricin, a toxic protein in the seed that inhibits protein synthesis.

  • Causes a painful death: vomiting, hemorrhaging, seizure and liver failure.

  • One seed can kill a child, three seeds can kill an adult.

Southwest Inhabitants

• Native American tribes occupied the southwest for around 13,000 years.

  • First ancestors came across the Bering Land Bridge between 35,000-16,500 years ago.

• Nomads and Settlers formed Pueblos, adapting to the harsh environment.

Southwest Cultures

• Groups: Apache, Comanche, Navajo, and Pueblo.

  • Pueblo people: settlers; cultivated crops.

  • Apache, Comanche, Navajo: nomadic; hunted, gathered plants, raided Pueblo villages.

Early North America

• Early societies existed in North America before European exploration.

  • Pueblo tribes were early farmers in the Southwest.

  • Farming started around 7,000 years ago.

  • Cultivated maize (corn), beans, and squash (from Mexican Center).

  • Developed irrigation methods.

  • Villages were abandoned around 1300 AD, likely due to prolonged drought.

Native American Beliefs

• Beliefs about religion and land ownership linked to nature.

  • Spiritual forces in plants and animals.

  • Individual ownership limited to crops.

  • Land for communal use.

  • Importance of preserving land for future generations.

Native American Plant Use

• Knowledge of native plants shared and passed down.

  • Uses: food, medicine, religious ceremony, building.

  • Three major food crops (Three sisters): corn (maize), beans, squash.

  • Cactus, Mesquite, Agave, Yucca, Creosote: important in southwest culture.

New World Plants

• Examples:

  • Rubber

  • Chocolate

  • Beans

  • Tobacco

  • Cotton

  • Pecans

  • Sunflower

  • Sugar Maple

  • Squash

• Americas: a center for plant domestication.

Three Sisters Garden

• Corn, Beans, and Squash

  • Corn: Plant four to six corn seeds in mounds spaced two feet apart.

  • Beans: When corn is four inches high, plant four bean seeds around each stem.

  • Squash: Plant squash, pumpkin, or zucchini near every four to six corn mounds.

Mexico - Milpas

• Traditional garden system.

  • Corn, Beans, Squash/Potato and Chilis.

  • Major diversity of corn varieties from Chihuahua to Central America.

Squash (Cucurbita)

• Developed through different varieties from five species.
  Cucurbita moschata: butternut, calabazas, etc.
  Cucurbita pepo: zucchini, summer squash, yellow squash, pumpkin, etc.
  Cucurbita maxima: winter squash.

Beans (Fabaceae - Phaseolus)

• Two species:

  • Tepary Beans (Phaseolus acutifolius): drought-tolerant, in the southwest.

  • Common Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris): kidney, pinto, etc.

  • Origin: the Americas, 5000-9000 years ago.

Honey Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa)

• Native Southwest all-purpose plant, cultivated, not domesticated.

  • Pods and beans ground to a coarse meal, water added, eaten as mush or fermented..

  • Raw beans ground into flour for flatbread or pancake.

  • Pinole: fine mesquite bean flour mixed with mustard, chia, or other seeds.

Mesquite Wood

• Used for:

  • Wooden mortars from mesquite logs.

  • Poles for house construction.

  • Furniture (stools).

  • Fuel - burns long and slow; charcoal.

Mesquite Qualities

• Resilient in the Southwest

  • Deep root system

  • Nitrogen-fixing

  • Thrives in hot climates

  • Pods as food source

    • Ripen before summer rains

    • High yields

    • Do not split open

    • Predictable harvest

    • Production increases with age

Cactus Use

• Purposes: Food, medicine, religious ceremony, building, water.

  • Fruits like Opuntia harvested (prickly pear, tuna).

    • Sweet, eaten raw, made into jellies and syrup.

    • High in vitamin C, low in fat, high in sugars.

Nopalitos - Opuntia spp.

• Young pads that grow in the spring; soft, without hardened spines.

  • Eaten throughout the SW USA and Mexico.

Religious Rituals - Hallucinogenic Alkaloids

• Ariocarpus fissuratus (living rock) - chemicals like peyote.

• Mammillaria craigii - eaten by shaman to locate witches.

• Epithelantha micromeris - ingested by shaman for clearer vision to see sorcerers.

Century Plants (Agave spp.)

• "Mescal bread" from plant stem, mashed, dried, used for long trips mixed with corn.

  • Young flower stalks roasted and eaten, taste like squash.

  • Cooked unopened flowers (boiled, fried, tortillas) after washing.

Century Plants (Agave spp.)

• Baked mescal hearts (pit BBQ).

  • Harvested before flowering stalk elongation.

  • Outer leaves trimmed, cooked in a pit with hot rocks for 2+ nights.

• Eaten with a corn drink or gruel, or ground into tortilla dough.

Century Plants (Agave spp.)

• Maguey wine (Mescal).

  • Baked stalks in water with bean root for fermentation, then distilled.

• Nectar gathered for consumption (rich in sugars and amino acids).

• Fibers used to make lassos and rope.

• Soap made from species rich in sapogenin and smilagenin for washing.

Sotol (Dasylirion spp.)

• Similar use to Agave.

  • Food use dates back to 7000-9000 yrs. BP in Texas and Mexico.

• Fibers in human coprolites.

• Alcohol: Sweet hearts fermented for an alcoholic drink.

• Leaf Uses: Baskets, mats, sandals, and fibers for cordage.

Yucca of the Southwest

• Soaptree Yucca (Yucca elata).

  • Saponins used for soap.

  • Medicinal Uses: Roots and leaves contain steroidal compounds that relieve inflammation (arthritis).

  • Roots boiled for tea to flush kidneys and liver.

Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata)

• Antioxidant nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA)

• Southwest Folk Medicine:

  • Leaves steeped for bowel complaints.

  • Gum chewed as anti-dysenteric.

  • Leaves steeped as emetic.

  • Feet placed in creosote fire or women lie on creosote branches for cramps or childbirth.

  • Used to treat rheumatism.

Plants and People of the Southwest

• Native Americans adapted to the desert, utilizing available resources.

• Cultivation of great food crops: corn, beans, squash.

• Plants for food, medicine, religious ritual, building.

• Important uncultivated plants: Mesquite, Cactus, Agave and Yucca.