The Herbarium
Part VI · Regulated or restricted
Herb. No. 040
Coca
Erythroxylum coca
Erythroxylaceae
An Andean shrub whose leaf is a traditional altitude chew — and the agricultural source of cocaine.
Coca leaf and cocaine are controlled. Traditional chewing and tea are legal in parts of the Andes and illegal in the United States. Cultivation outside licensed traditional zones is a crime.
- Parts used
- Leaf — traditional Andean use only
- Traditional notes
- Altitude fatigue in the Andes · Hunger on long walks · Ritual offering
- Habitat only
- Humid eastern Andes, mid-elevation. A tropical shrub of specific valleys.
- Andean habitat only. No cultivation notes.
- Traditional leaf and isolated cocaine are not the same object.
- Growing or importing the shrub is a serious federal crime in the US.
Safety
US (and most non-Andean) possession Heart disease Pregnancy as cocaine
Lore
Andean leaf, chewed with lime, is not cocaine. The isolate of 1859 made a pharmacy, a ban, and a century of geopolitics. The plate is the shrub’s habitat, not a kitchen.
The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.