Ipecacuanha

Ipecacuanha (Psychotria ipecacuanha) of family Rubiaceae is a flowering plant, the root of which is most commonly used to make syrup of ipecac, a powerful emetic. Its name comes from the Tupi i-pe-kaa-guéne, translated as 'road-side sick-making plant'. It is native to Brazil. The plant had been assigned different names by various botanists; several scientific names including Cephaelis acuminata, Cephaelis ipecacuanha, Psychotria ipecacuanha, and Uragoga ipecacuanha were used.

Ipecacuanha was first introduced to Europe in 1672, by a traveler named Legros. Legros imported some quantity of the root to Paris from South America. In 1680, a Parisian merchant named Garnier possessed some 68 kilograms (150 pounds) of the substance and informed a physician named Helvetius of its power in the treatment of dysentery. Helvetius was granted sole right to vend the remedy by Louis XIV, but sold the secret to the French government, who made the formula public in 1688.

The part of ipecacuanha used in medicine is the root, which is simple or divided into a few branches, flexuous, about as thick as a goose quill, and is composed of rings of various size, somewhat fleshy when fresh, and appearing as if closely strung on a central woody cord. The different kinds known in commerce (gray, red, brown) are all produced by the same plant, the differences arising from the age of the plant, the mode of drying, etc. Various other plants are used as substitutes for it.

Ipecacuanha is useful as an emetic when it is necessary to unload the stomach in cases where there is great debility or in childhood. As a nauseant, expectorant, and diaphoretic, it is prescribed in bronchitis, etc., and in disorders in which it is desired to increase the actions of the skin. The most useful preparations are the wine of ipecacuanha and Dover's powder.

Similar plants
Ipecacuanha is a slow-growing plant, which reduces its commercial appeal as a crop plant. It is seldom cultivated in South America, but it has been cultivated in India and elsewhere.

Botanical naming practices vary and change a great deal, thus the following is a generalized listing of plants which have at some point in time been employed as substitutes for ipecacuanha. Some of the names of the species may be obsolete.


 * Brazilian or Rio ipecacuanha: Cephaelis ipecacuanha
 * Cartagena or Colombia ipecacuanha: Cephaelis acuminata
 * Wild ipecacuanha: Euphorbia ipecacuanhae of North America
 * Venezuelan plant: Sarcostemma glacum, of the family Asclepiadaceae
 * Tylophora asthmatica was used in India
 * Gillenia stipulata was called American ipecac
 * Richardsonia pilosa, Richardsonia rosea, Psychotria emetica and various species of Ionidium have been employed, too.

Other

 * Ipecacuanha was the name of the ship that initially rescued the character Edward Prendick in the novel The Island of Doctor Moreau written by H. G. Wells. The ship he had been on, the Lady Vain, collided with rocks, and he was left to float in a dingy until he was rescued eight days later.
 * Guybrush Threepwood used Ipecacuanha syrup (made by combining a flower from the Ipecacuanha with maple syrup) in order to escape from the giant snake that swallowed him in Monkey Island 3: The Curse of Monkey Island videogame.