Justicia pectoralis

Low aromatic herb of the lower Amazon basin and Caribbean. The dried leaves are added as an admixture to several Amazonian ceremonial preparations, especially yopo and parica snuffs prepared by Waika, Yanomami and other peoples, and occasionally to ayahuasca brews. The leaves themselves smell of new-mown hay (coumarin).

Understory in seasonally wet lowland forest and disturbed margins. Cultivated as a kitchen-garden herb across northern South America and the Caribbean.

• Admixture in yopo and parica snuffs prepared from Anadenanthera and Virola
• Folk medicinal infusion for cough and respiratory complaints across Latin America
• Occasional ayahuasca admixture in some Peruvian traditions