Taxonomy: Swietenia macrophylla

Shipibo: Wishtininti

Commonly known as Mahogany, the Caoba is considered an endangered species popular for its valuable hardwood. It’s very adaptable to different soils. The resin can be extracted from the bark and oils extracted from the seeds. After reaching maturity, the Caoba produces light yellow flowers and bears long fruits that grow upward (known as “sky fruits”). Each fruit can contain 30 to 70 winged seeds.

Common Name: Capirona

Taxonomy: Calycophyllum spruceanum

Shipibo: Axo

Capirona is a fast-growing tree that can reach 30 meters at full maturity. Once or twice per year the tree will shed its bark to prevent fungus and other vines from climbing its trunk. The bark has a notable polished and smooth texture with a reddish-brown color followed by a green color after the bark is shed. It produces an abundance of fragrant white flowers followed by seed pods. The bark is used as an antifungal treatment to heal wounds, cuts, and burns and can also be used as an insect repellent.

Common Name: Carahuasca

Taxonomy: Guatteria hyposericea Diels

Shipibo: Nishi Jiwi

Carahuasca is a popular hardwood used in carpentry, furniture construction, and tool handles. It grows to reach 20 to 30 meters in height. Many species within the Guatteria genus have been used in traditional medicine. Extracts from the bark, leaves, and other parts of the plant are used to treat a range of ailments, including fevers, digestive issues, and inflammatory conditions.

Common Name: Cedro

Taxonomy: Cedrela odorata

Shipibo: Konxan

Timber from the Cedro tree (known as “Spanish Ceder” in English commerce)  is popular for its aromatic lightweight wood and natural termite and rot-resistant properties. As a result of overharvesting, the Cedro tree is considered a vulnerable species. Mature Cedro trees can reach 30 meters in height and after about 10 years begin to produce flowers, fruit, and seeds.

Common Name: Chuchuhuasi

Taxonomy: Maytenus macrocarpa

Shipibo: Chochowaya

The Chuchuhuasi tree is a known medicine throughout the Amazon Rainforest for its tonifying, anti-inflammation, anti-spastic, metabolic, anti-fever, anti-cancer, painkiller, tumor-preventing, and antihistaminic properties. The word Chuchuhuasi (and other variations such as chuchuhuasha, chucchu huashu, and chuchasha) is Quechua and translates to “trembling bark” as the bark of the tree is effective in relieving back pain, as well as the discomforts of arthritis and rheumatism. Chuchuhuasi can reach 30 meters and produces small white flowers.

Common Name: Copaiba

Taxonomy: Copaifera reticulata

Shipibo: Bomshis

Copaiba often refers to the oleoresin obtained from the trunk of several South American leguminous trees in the Copaifera genus. At Jakon Rate we have selected a native variety that, like many in this genus, produces copaiba-balsam, the resin is used as a food additive and as flavoring in food and beverages,  in perfumery, cosmetics, varnishes, and lacquers, and as substitute to diesel oil. Medicinally, it is used to treat various conditions with the skin, urinary tract, respiratory system, and reproductive systems. It can also be used as a pain reliever, to soothe headaches, sore throats, and mouth sores. It also treats inflammation and wounds and is considered one of the most important natural remedies in some rural regions where people live far from pharmacies and hospitals and have little access to public health care.

The Copaiba tree grows to 30 meters (and in some cases can be found as tall as 45 meters). Leaf litter and root dieback are known to contribute to nitrogen-fixing in the surrounding soil.

Common Name: Huayruro

Taxonomy: Ormosia coccinea

Shipibo: Reposh

Huayruro (also known as the “Scarlet Bean” tree) is a medium-sized flowering leguminous tree reaching 20 meters. While the seeds are toxic when raw, after proper processing, they are valued in jewelry making with their distinct half-black and half-red color. The Huayruro tree grows quickly and contributes to soil health and atmospheric nitrogen through symbiotic relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in its root nodules and the decomposition of fallen leaves.

Common Name: Lupuna Blanca

Taxonomy: Ceiba pentandra

Shipibo: Josho Xono

The Lupuna Blanca tree is among the tallest and largest trees throughout the Amazonian rainforest reaching up to 70 meters in height. Commonly referred to as Kapok it can be found throughout the world in tropical rainforests in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. The trunk can reach several meters in diameter with large buttress roots extending from its base. 

The Lupuna produces large and showy white, pink, or reddish flowers followed by woody seed capsules filled with seeds and a fluffy cotton-like fiber which is used as a sustainable cotton alternative as a stuffing for pillows and mattresses and in other textile applications. Older Lupuna Blanca trees that tower over the canopy can be an anchor in the ecosystem providing food and habitat for numerous species of birds, reptiles, pollinators, and mammals.

Common Name: Pashaco

Taxonomy: Macrolobium acaciifolium (Benth.) Benth.

Shipibo: Awapishi

Pashaco is a medium to large tree ranging from 10 to 30 meters in height. The tree typically produces small, inconspicuous flowers that give way to seed pods. The wood is dense, strong, and resistant to decay and as a result, is valued and used in construction, furniture making, and boat building.

Research on nitrogen-fixing trees suggests that, like other legume trees, the Pashaco tree has the potential to contribute to soil restoration and fertility improvement in degraded environments.

Common Name: Quinilla

Taxonomy: Manilkara bidentata

Shipibo: Texo

Quinilla is a large latex-producing tree with white flowers and yellow berries reaching 45 meters in height and as much as 2 meters in diameter at maturity. The wood is valued for being strong, durable, hard, and resistant to rot and insects. The wood (known as bulletwood) is used in numerous applications including construction, boat building, furniture, and tools. The Quinilla latex was historically harvested for various purposes, including chewing gum, golf balls, and industrial coatings.

The latex has also been used topically to treat wounds, skin infections, and rheumatic pain, and the bark and leaves can been used in decoctions and infusions for their anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties.

Common Name: Requia

Taxonomy: Guarea guidonia

Shipibo: Xoro

Requia is a medium to large tree ranging from 15 to 25 meters in height. It produces small flowers and stems loaded with fruit. The tree is known as an ornamental tree which produces good shade and is used in some agroforestry systems to provide shade to coffee and banana plantations. Various parts of the tree can be used as medicine either topically or internally to treat body aches, angina, asthma, dyspnoea, fevers, inflammation, digestive disorders, and as a general purgative.

Common Name: Sangre de Grado

Taxonomy: Croton lechleri

Shipibo: Jimimoxo

Sangre de Grado (Dragon’s Blood) is a medium-sized tree growing 10 to 20 meters high with a relatively thin trunk. It’s popular for producing a thick red resin that can be tapped from the bark of the tree and used in numerous medicinal applications. The bioactive sap or resin possesses antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-fungal, and immune-boosting properties. As a result, it is used topically to treat wounds, cuts, infections, reduce inflammation, and reduce pain, swelling, and inflammation. It is used internally as a tonic to inhibit the growth of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, to treat gastrointestinal disorders, including ulcers, diarrhea, and gastritis, and used in dental care.

Common Name: Shihuahuaco

Taxonomy: Dipteryx micrantha

Shipibo: Koman

Shihuahuaco is a very large tree averaging 40 to 45 meters but is known to reach up to 60 meters high. It has a distinctive salmon colored bark and produces ornamental bunches of lilac pink flowers high in the canopy that eventually develop into a mass of large fruit pods, which serve as an important food for many native animals during the dry season. It produces prized timber – dense, hard, and beautiful reddish wood traded in the international timber market under the name “Cumaru”. Currently the conversation status for Shihuahuaco has not been evaluated but some reports and research indicate that the species may be endangered.

Common Name: Tawari

Taxonomy: Ixerba brexioides

Shipibo: Romepoto Jiwi

Tawari is a small bushy tree about 10 meters high with thick dark green leaves and white flowers with a green heart. The fruit is a green leathery capsule that splits open to reveal the black seeds. Tawari has a mass flowering strategy, attracting a range of pollinators and wildlife with the abundance of flowers and nectar it produces. Tawari has been planted around the perimeter of the experimental plot to help attract pollinators and contribute to the biodiversity and genetic diversity of the plot and surrounding areas.

Taxonomy: Banisteriopsis caapi

Shipibo: Nai Nishi

Also known as “Yellow Ayahuasca”, this variety is the most common and popular among the onanya and meraya. After reaching the canopy of its host tree, it produces an abundance of small white, pink, and fuchsia flowers. The magical power of this Amazonian liana, is used to offer healing to patients, and results in the best recipe to unite the 4 worlds:

▪ Panshin Nete: The yellow world
▪ Non Nete: Our current world
▪ Jene Nete: Ocean World
▪ Nai Nete: The universe

Taxonomy: Banisteriopsis caapi

Shipibo: Bata Nishi

The “Sweet” variety is a less common strain with a unique energy and has a more pleasant flavor. The vine itself is nearly identical to the more common “Cielo” variety but displays lighter flowers. The flowers are white and light pink. When the individual consuming this sweet variety carries negative energies, the visions are said to be terrifying and the spirits frightening.

Taxonomy: Banisteriopsis caapi

Shipibo: Wiso Nishi

The “Black” variety is more common among some Mestizo Vegetalistas and is usually blended with the “Cielo” variety.
Among Shipibo-Konibo communities, it is rarely consumed as it carries an association with sorcery and witchcraft.

Taxonomy: Banisteriopsis caapi

Shipibo: Nishin Chai

The “Sacha” variety is rare compared to other varieties. It is said to be less strong and less effective than “Cielo” and other varieties. For this reason, it is not cultivated, however, its potentially unique genetics still offer diversity to the forest. This and other less common varieties will be cultivated and tested to learn more about their unique qualities.

Common Name: Guaba

Taxonomy: Inga edulis

Shipibo: Xenan

Guaba (also known as Ice Cream Bean) is a fruit-bearing tree known for its rapid growth and ability to improve soil properties. Like many other species in the genus Inga, Guaba can fix nitrogen in the soil through a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in its root nodules and decomposed leaf litter. This makes it valuable in agroforestry systems, where it can improve soil fertility and support the growth of other crops. As a result, it’s used in coffee, cacao, tea plantations, and other agroforestry systems to provide shade and improve soil. It can reach 30 meters in height at full maturity. The pulp of the fruit is sweet and is often said to taste like vanilla ice cream. 

Guaba plays a significant role in the ecology of its native habitat by providing food for a variety of animals, including birds, bats, and insects. It also contributes to the overall biodiversity and ecosystem functioning of tropical forests.

Common Name: Chacruna

Taxonomy: Psychotria viridis

Shipibo: Kawa

Chacruna or kawa is a powerful plant teacher used alongside nishi in the preparation of oni. It’s a slow-growing shrub in the coffee family. Chacruna requires some shade and moist soil as it establishes itself in the first couple of years of growth. Over many years, it can become as tall as 5 meters. It produces flowers and berries containing seeds. Cuttings of stems and even healthy leaves can be used to propagate the plant. 

Common Name: Yarina

Taxonomy: Phytelephas macrocarpa

Shipibo: Jepe

The Yarina palm is a dioecious, solitary palm with a short trunk and a large crown. It produces large white flowers and composite fruits. The nuts, leaves, palm hearts, and fruits are all edible. Yarinacocha derives its name from the Yarina palm. Yarina has been planted as a companion plant to Chacruna. The two have been cultivated together for many generations.