Devil Doer

Description

Strychnos mitscherlichii M.R. Schomb. LOGANIACEAE Devildoer
var. mitscherlichii
Vernacular names: Devildoer, Big devildoer (Cr), Kwabanaro (Ar), Aritya wokuru (C).
Botanical description: Liana, stem to 10 cm in diam. Branches glabrous to minutely puberulous,
with strongly curved, hook-like tendrils opposite the leaves. Leaves opposite, simple, at the base
united by a stipular line; petiole glabrous, ca. 8 mm long; blades broadly ovate to oblong, to 20 x 9
cm, shiny, leathery, with 3 prominent veins, apex rounded to bluntly acuminate, base obtuse to acute.
Inflorescences terminal or axillary, narrowly thyrsoid, with opposite cymes to 4 cm long, rachis black,
glabrous. Flowers zygomorphic, tubular, fragrant; calyx yellow, 5-lobed, lobes ovate, to 1.3 x 1 mm,
conspicuously ciliate; corolla cream, tube narrowly cylindrical, ca. 6 mm long, papillose outside, 5-
lobed, lobes narrow, ca. 3 mm long, with white, woolly fimbriae at the throat; stamens subsessile,
included, inserted below the wool at the throat of the corolla; ovary superior, mostly 2-locular, style
and stigma 1. Fruit a berry, dark gray to yellowish green when immature, orange-grey when ripe,
lenticellate, globose, ca. 4.5 cm in diam., fruit flesh orange to grey, sweet; seeds several, ca. 2.5 x 1.5
x 1.8 cm.
Distribution and ecology: Venezuela, the Guianas, and Amazonian Brazil. In northwest Guyana,
frequent in riverbank Mora forest, occasional in mixed and secondary forest. According to Robert
Schomburgk (1848), who collected the type specimen close to Kariako (Barama), the species was
flowering in September-October. In the same area, fruits were observed in August and from October
to January. Seeds are dispersed by spider monkeys (van Roosmalen, 1985).
Use: The orange-grey pulp around the seeds is edible. The tough fruit shell is broken op and the pulp
is sucked out. Just a few persons in Kariako mentioned the fruit as edible. People usually do not fancy
them, as they are often infested with worms. This also explained by its Carib name, which means
‘worm drink’. A tea brewed from the chipped stem and bark is drunk as aphrodisiac, to cure a ‘weak
back’ (impotence). People warned that the liana had quite strong effects (‘devil-doer’) and therefore
only small stems should be utilised. A police officer in Moruca fell seriously ill after taking an
overdose of devildoer tea. He had to be transported by air to the Georgetown hospital. A too strong
concoction was said to cause permanent impotence. S. mitscherlichii is the most common species of
Strychnos in northwest Guyana, but the less frequent S. erichsonii is used for the same purposes.
In other parts of the country, different Strychnos species may be used as aphrodisiac. The stem is
mostly used in combination with one or more of the following ingredients: monkey ladder wood
(Bauhinia guianensis), cockshun root (Smilax schomburgkiana), kapadula wood (Tetracera spp.,
Pinzona sp., Doliocarpus sp.), sarsparilla root (Dioscorea trichanthera), kufa root (Clusia spp.),
locust bark (Hymenaea courbaril), and granny backbone wood (Curarea candicans). The pieces are
either soaked in alcohol or boiled in water for about an hour. These ‘builders’ are added to
milkshakes, porridge, tea, stew, or other dishes, and are said to protect against diseases and enhance
sexual activities. Aphrodisiacs are popular among coastlanders and (Amerindian) pork-knockers.
The bark and roots of more than 12 different species of Strychnos are involved in the preparation of
curare. A variety of alkaloids have been found in the genus (Marini-Bettolo and Bisset, 1972), of
which strychnine is the most famous, nowadays used in modern medicine as a muscle relaxant. S.
toxifera, S. erichsonii, and S. guianensis were commonly used in curare by Macushi and Wai-wai
Indians in Southern Guyana (Krukoff and Smith, 1939; Fanshawe, 1948). Although rather common,
S. mitscherlichii is used only occasionally as a curare ingredient (Schultes and Raffauf, 1990). This is
probably because of its variable alkaloid content, a phenomenon often found in polymorphic species
with an extensive range (Krukoff, 1965). It is assumed that blowguns and curare never formed part of
the traditional hunting methods of the northwestern tribes (Lewin, 1923). Informants said they had
never heard of the use of Strychnos bark in arrow poisons, but they knew the seeds were poisonous.
Non-Timber Forest Products of the North-West District of Guyana Part II
228
Economy: Ready-made aphrodisiacs are sold in litre bottles for US$ 3.50 in medicinal herb stalls at
the Georgetown market. Some of these stalls are open 24 hours a day. Pieces of Strychnos wood are
sold for US$ 0.35, but they are likely to be harve