Ska maría pastora

Description

Salvia divinorum (Latin: "sage of the diviners"; also called ska maría pastora, seer's sage, yerba de la pastora or simply salvia) is a plant species with transient psychoactive properties when its leaves are consumed by chewing, smoking, or as a tea. The leaves contain opioid-like compounds that induce hallucinations. Because the plant has not been well-studied in high-quality clinical research, little is known about its toxicology, adverse effects, or safety over long-term consumption. Its native habitat is cloud forest in the isolated Sierra Mazateca of Oaxaca, Mexico, where it grows in shady, moist locations. The plant grows to over a meter high, has hollow square stems like others in the mint family Lamiaceae, large leaves, and occasional white flowers with violet calyxes. Botanists have not determined whether Salvia divinorum is a cultigen or a hybrid because native plants reproduce vegetatively and rarely produce viable seed. The genus name, Salvia, was first used by Pliny for a plant that was likely Salvia officinalis (common sage) and is derived from the Latin salvere. The specific epithet, divinorum, was given because of the plant's traditional use in divination. It is often loosely translated as "diviner's sage" or "seer's sage". Albert Hofmann, who collected the first plants with Wasson, objected to the new plant being given the name divinorum: "I was not very happy with the name because Salvia divinorum means "Salvia of the ghosts", whereas Salvia divinatorum, the correct name, means "Salvia of the priests". It is now in the botanical literature under the name Salvia divinorum. Salvia divinorum is endemic to the Sierra Mazateca in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, growing in the primary or secondary cloud forest and tropical evergreen forest at elevations from 300 to 1,830 metres (980 to 6,000 ft). Its most common habitat is black soil along stream banks where small trees and bushes provide an environment of low light and high humidity.