Virola elongata

{{Short description|Species of plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|image = Virola-theiodora-1860.jpg

|image_caption = Virola elongata 1860 Illustration

|genus = Virola

|species = elongata

|authority = Warb.{{GRIN | accessdate=2008-04-05}}

|synonyms = *Myristica cuspidata

• Myristica punctata
• Myristica membranacea
• Myristica uaupensis
• Palala punctata
• Palala uaupensis
• Palala cuspidata
• Palala membranacea
• Palala elongata
• Palala uaupensis
• Virola cuspidata uaupensis
• Virola cuspidata
• Virola theiodora Warb.

}}

Virola elongata (syn. Virola theiodora ) is a species of tree in the family Myristicaceae. The tree is native to Panama, Guyana, Brazil (Acre, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia and Roraima), Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It is also found in Suriname. Virola elongata is thin and {{convert|7.5-23|m|abbr=on|sigfig=2}} tall, sometimes {{convert|30|m|abbr=on}} tall.

{{cite web

|url = http://www.plantes-botanique.be/e1-Myristicaceae-Virola-elongata

|archive-url = https://archive.today/20070519184701/http://www.plantes-botanique.be/e1-Myristicaceae-Virola-elongata

|url-status = dead

|archive-date = 2007-05-19

|title = Plantes et botanique :: Virola elongata

|publisher = www.plantes-botanique.be

|access-date = 2008-04-30

}}

The trunk is about {{convert|43|cm|abbr=on|sigfig=2}} in diameter, cylindrical and has smooth brown and gray bark. The fruit is ellipsoidal to subglobular, {{convert|11–20|mm|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|10–15|m|abbr=on}} in diameter and comes in groups of 40. The tree is found in evergreen forests and in scrub up to {{convert|800|m|abbr=on}} in altitude.

The Yanomami people use the powdered resin as an entheogen known as nyakwána which is inhaled or "snuffed" into the nasal cavity, it contains a high concentration of 5-MeO-DMT and DMT.{{cite journal | pmid = 5806312 | year = 1969 | last1 = Agurell | first1 = S | last2 = Holmstedt | first2 = B | last3 = Lindgren | first3 = JE | last4 = Schultes | first4 = RE | title = Alkaloids in certain species of Virola and other South American plants of ethnopharmacologic interest | volume = 23 | issue = 3 | pages = 903–16 | journal = Acta Chemica Scandinavica | doi=10.3891/acta.chem.scand.23-0903| doi-access = free }}

Virola elongata extracts have weak antibacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus.{{Cite journal | url = http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bjid/v10n6/a08v10n6.pdf | title = Antibacterial Activity of Brazilian Amazon Plant Extracts | journal = Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases | volume = 10 | issue = 6 | pages = 400–2 | doi = 10.1590/S1413-86702006000600008 | pmid = 17420913 | year = 2006 | last1 = Suffredini | first1 = Ivana Barbosa | last2 = Paciencia | first2 = Mateus Luís Barradas | last3 = Varella | first3 = Antonio Drauzio | last4 = Younes | first4 = Riad Naim | doi-access = free }}