Rank Species | Genus Silene Higher classification Silene | |
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Similar Calea ternifolia, Silene, Calea, Entada rheedii, Heimia salicifolia | ||
Silene undulata (Xhosa: iindlela zimhlophe — “white ways/paths”, also known as Silene capensis, and African dream root) is a plant native to the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
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Cultivation
In cultivation, S. undulata is an easily grown, but moisture hungry herb. It is tolerant of extreme heat, >40 °C (104 °F), and moderate cold, −5 °C (23 °F). A moisture retentive seedbed is essential. The fragrant flowers open at night and close in the day. It is a biennial to short lived perennial and the root can be harvested after the second year.
Uses
Silene undulata is regarded by the Xhosa people as a sacred plant. Its root is traditionally used to induce vivid (and according to the Xhosa, prophetic) lucid dreams during the initiation process of shamans, classifying it a naturally occurring oneirogen similar to the more well-known dream herb Calea zacatechichi.
