Celastrus Paniculatus #
| Binomial / Botanical Name | Celastrus Paniculatus |
| Street Names | Black Oil Plant; Climbing Staff Tree; Intellect Tree |
| Major Active Compound | Unknown |
| Indigenous Source | India |
| Form | Seeds |
| RoA | Oral |
| Personal Rating On Shulgin Scale | ++ |
SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE #
Celastrus Paniculatus has been used in traditional ayurvedic medicine for many centuries. It has long been considered to offer a variety of benefits and address a range of ailments, but it is most well known for the stimulation of both intellect and memory. Indeed, to this day, Indian students are known to use it prior to revision study and academic examinations.
My first experiment comprised the multi-dosing of 20+ 20+10 seeds over several hours. For my second, I consumed a single dose of 40 seeds. In each case I chewed the seeds for a few minutes and then swallowed with water.
On both occasions the outcome surprised me.
With nootropics generally, and certainly on a single dose, I usually feel that there might be something there, and often I believe that there is, but it is not clear enough to absolutely dismiss the chance that this is a placebo effect. It does tend to be border-line.
Not with this.
I was absolutely certain that it was effective.
It induced an on focus clarity, and it delivered this the day after a fairly heavy night. I should have been feeling a little fuzzy, but having munched down the seeds, the opposite was the case.
The second exercise, which was undertaken some weeks after the first, confirmed its efficacy.
Celastrus Paniculatus has a positive reputation, and a wide variety of claims continue to be made about it. Here is just one list, which I found via a random search:
“appetizer, emetic expectorant, sodorific, liver tonic, aphrodisiac, stimulant, powerful brain tonic, stimulate intellect and sharpen memory, cure joint pain, paralysis, rheumatism, weakness; seed oil enriches the blood, cures abdominal complaints, stomachic, tonic, treats cough, asthma, leprosy, headaches, leucoderma” ~ celastrus.com
Obviously I cannot confirm most of these, but I can state categorically that it is psychoactive. Within hours, on the specified dose, there was a clear, unambiguous and beneficial effect on my mental acuity.
There was no euphoria or obvious stimulation to it, as far as I could tell, but I felt confident and content whilst under its influence.
On retiring to bed I fell asleep without difficulty, and during the night I experienced a multitude of dreams. In some, the frequently claimed aphrodisiacal properties did in fact manifest themselves.
Repeat experiments yielded similar results to these first two encounters, certainly in terms of clarity, sharpened focus and cognitive enhancement.
It would appear that this is a nootropic that actually works, and is one which produces a return from a single dose. Continued research on the Internet, with reference to field reports, indicates that the same opinion is shared by a substantial number of individuals.
This again is a plant that is deserving of further experimentation. It isn’t one which produces a high or a recreational trip, but it does provide considerable scope for intellectual exploration and research.