''Petunia integrifolia'' (syn. ''Petunia violacea''), the violet petunia or violetflower petunia, is a species of wild

petunia ''Petunia'' is a genus of 20 species of flowering plants of South American origin. The popular flower of the same name derived its epithet from the French, which took the word , 'tobacco', from a Tupi–Guarani language. A tender perennial plan ...

with violet-colored blooms. ''Petunia integrifolia'' is native to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. ''P. integrifolia'' bears flowers approximately 1.5 inch in diameter and the plant is typically smaller and harder to cultivate than the well-known hybrid bedding ''Petunia'' now known correctly as '' Petunia × atkinsiana''.

Taxonomy

The species was first described as ''Salpiglossis integrifolia'' by

William Jackson Hooker Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botany, botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew Gardens, Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botan ...

in 1831. It was transferred to the genus ''Petunia'' as ''P. integrifolia'' by Hans Schinz and Albert Thellung in 1915. '' Petunia inflata'' had sometimes been considered to be a subspecies of ''P. integrifolia'', but the two have different native ranges, with ''P. inflata'' growing in more northern areas.

Hallucinogen

''Petunia violacea'' Lindl. has been reported to be used as a

hallucinogen Hallucinogens, also known as psychedelics, entheogens, or historically as psychotomimetics, are a large and diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mo ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, where the plant has the vernacular name shanín. The drug is said to cause sensations of

levitation Levitation, Levitate, or Levitating may refer to: Concepts *Levitation (illusion), an illusion where a magician appears to levitate a person or object *Levitation (paranormal), the claimed paranormal phenomenon of levitation, occurring without an ...

and

flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...

– a type of hallucination often associated with the use of the antimuscarinic drugs such as the ''

Atropa belladonna ''Atropa bella-donna'', commonly known as deadly nightshade or belladonna, is a toxic perennial herbaceous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae, which also includes tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant. It is native to Europe and Western Asia, i ...

'' based flying ointments of

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

and

Early Modern Europe Early modern Europe, also referred to as the post-medieval period, is the period of European history between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the mid 15th century to the late 18th century. Histori ...

. Haro, A., S. L. : "Shamanismo y farmacopea en el Reino de Quito". ''Inst. Ecuat. Cienc. Nat. Contr., No. 75'' : Nov. 1971.

References

External links

* *
''P. integrifolias'' entry at Gardenguides.com
{{Taxonbar, from=Q160825 integrifolia Flora of Argentina