kavamehameha
Magnum's 'awa drinking bird
Even if it's real kava, I doubt you will feel much of its effects. It takes some time for kava to develop a sufficient amount of kavalactones in the roots, as far as I know.
Kava Botany Need Help With ID On Possible Kava In Costa Rica
- Thread starter ShawnTheDirtyHippie
- Start date
ShawnTheDirtyHippie
Kava Curious
It takes about 2-5 years from what I know. I would assume these plants I found are definitely over 2 years old.
recentreturn
Kava Enthusiast
And thus was destroyed the only anthropological evidence of the ancient polynesian conquest and colonization of central america.
ShawnTheDirtyHippie
Kava Curious
There's a bunch of plants where I found these. Obviously I wouldn't eradicate them from the area. I'm not some sort of monster...
recentreturn
Kava Enthusiast
haha. It was mostly tongue and cheek.
I am curious though... If it would turn out to be kava (which would be a pretty shocking find), and the plants look only 2 years old... Does that mean that two years ago a human being made cuttings and planted these plants? Kava is sterile, right?
ShawnTheDirtyHippie
Kava Curious
So after a chew test I do get a bit of numbness on my tongue and lips like Kava. I'm not sure if these were planted by anyone but if they were planted it couldn't have been recently because they are on my families property and they say they had no idea they were growing there and no one knows about them being planted. Maybe I found some rare central american variety of Kava that isn't sterile???
No matter how it got there, the fact that you've got kava growing seemingly unassisted in Costa Rica is impressive to say the least. I've routinely wondered if kava could be grown in mass elsewhere in the world to supplement the kava shortage.
kavamehameha
Magnum's 'awa drinking bird
If it's real kava that would be a spectacular finding. Maybe you know someone working in botany who could confirm this?
kastom_lif
Kava Lover
If that's true kava growing in Quepos, that's very encouraging. I wasn't sure if kava could handle the dry season there.
It could bode well for South Pacific farmers wanting to keep their gardens alive during niño years. Plus, more possible kava growing regions in Central America.
It could bode well for South Pacific farmers wanting to keep their gardens alive during niño years. Plus, more possible kava growing regions in Central America.
recentreturn
Kava Enthusiast
Are there multiple stalks going to a single corm?
Plantacious
Kava Enthusiast
An increase in kava supply can only be a good thing.
kasa_balavu
Yaqona Dina
Definitely not Piper Auritum (false kava), but neither is it Piper Methysticum.
It's a weed, but it isn't as invasive and difficult to control as false kava.
How do you think it got there? Is it growing in a back yard?
It's a weed, but it isn't as invasive and difficult to control as false kava.
How do you think it got there? Is it growing in a back yard?
Plantacious
Kava Enthusiast
Which characteristic would eliminate Piper Methysticum as a possibility ?
kasa_balavu
Yaqona Dina
That stem is like no kava I've ever seen. The raised, almost spiky lenticels on them especially on what appears to be a young stem. The petioles/branches being so long and thin for such a small plant. The fact that there appears to be just a single stem.
None of these rules it out completely, but to my eye, it just doesn't look like kava. A botanist or someone who has been exposed to many more cultivars of kava in many different countries will know more and might say I'm wrong about this.
There are between 1000 and 2000 species in the piper family, many of them endemic to Central and South America.
None of these rules it out completely, but to my eye, it just doesn't look like kava. A botanist or someone who has been exposed to many more cultivars of kava in many different countries will know more and might say I'm wrong about this.
There are between 1000 and 2000 species in the piper family, many of them endemic to Central and South America.
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ShawnTheDirtyHippie
Kava Curious
Yes there are multiple stalks.
ShawnTheDirtyHippie
Kava Curious
I agree with it looking like no other Kava I've seen. Ive seen three different varieties in person living in Hawaii and it is definitely different. It does have multiple stems though, not a single.
ShawnTheDirtyHippie
Kava Curious
It's growing in the yard of my families house in Quepos. They have lived there for quite some time and none of my family even knew it was growing there.
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recentreturn
Kava Enthusiast
Well, lots of people don't pay real close attention to species of weeds or even trees for that matter. Maybe if you ask around among locals you'll find someone who knows what it is. It'd be cool to identify it in any case. But maybe not a great idea to put any more in your mouth (though I am sure you thought of that and weighed the risk); its actually kind surprising (given the general caution on the forums about health) that none of us raised any strong objection when you said you were gonna go chew on it. ...
ShawnTheDirtyHippie
Kava Curious
I thought about it and figured none of the plants that it could be would poison me anyways so I went for it. A few hours later I feel totally fine so I would say it's safe to consume. I also did get a numbness in my mouth when I chewed it. I'm having a hard time believing a plant that looks so similar to kava and has similar effects to kava is a weed.
Alia
'Awa Grower/Collector
Yes Macropiper has lots of species and, true, the leaf is usually more glossy. As I learn more I do not see them as indigenous to Costa Rica so I don't know except the stalks in your photograph sure do not look like methysticum.