Coleus blumei (now known as Plectranthus scutellarioides)

[alkaloidaholic]

I wanted to make a thread about this plant.


not to much is known about its psychoactive properties or if its considerably psychoactive at all. It definitely can be used as a substitute for the dream herb
some people say it only works when fresh while at the same time saying you can smoke it, which is rather confusing 
the dose is also like this. some people saying you need 70 leaves while others saying you only need 15. The leave can get very large as well which is not clarified  

I've consumed a hole plant before, about 25 large leaves and the steam. It tastes strangely reminiscent of NBOMe although the effects were quite mild 
I did feel very tranquil, there was some definite psychedelic effects. I gave some to a friend (who was very inexperienced with hallucinogens) who was looking for something cheap to try. about 20 small/medium sized leaves. He started acting quite odd, very giddy and wouldn't stop laughing he said he was getting some sort of visual distortions as well which he said surprised him.
   
It was very weird for him... I wonder if it was placebo, Iv never gotten as strong of a reaction to it as he did

Anyway I'd love to hear others experimentations with this plant, preparations and maybe find an active constituent 

Thanks!

[bob]

Nice to know. I only experienced Calea Zacatechichi (the dreamherb) as a live plant which I grow on my own.
The Coleus blumei is a plant that you can buy in any plant store, so it would be interesting adding this one to my indoor garden!
Could a tincture of the leave material be made?

[alkaloidaholic]

Yes a very concentrated ethanol extract of coleus would be nice to work with. You would need plenty of leaves though

This plant is a extraordinarily prevalent decorative plant you can find just about anywhere. Its strange to see how its so unnoticed this plant is, with it having a considerable amount of potential as a hallucinogen.

Iv done some digging the plants psychoactive constituent are Diterpenoids, such as coleon U 11-acetate, 16-acetoxycoleon U11-acetate, xanthanthusins F-K, plus analogues, coleon U, 16-O-acetylcoleon C, coleon U-quinone, 8alpha, 9alpha-epoxycoleon U-quinone, and xanthanthusin E, have been isolated from the aerial parts of Coleus xanthanthus. - See more at: www.sigmaaldrich.com/life-science/nutrition-research/learning-center/plant-profiler/coleus-forskohlii.html#sthash.Bz9AAH6R.dpuf

There are other psycative Diterpenoids like Lagochilin found in the intoxicating mint (Lagochilus inebrians) and of course salvinorin A and B

Many people say the experience is like a very mild salvinorin b trip which I would say is some what true but the plant to me feels much more similar to a Lagochilus high

[bob]

Alkaloidaholic,

Have you ever made an ethanol extract of Coleus? It could be interesting, and possibly easier to ingest.

[alkaloidaholic]

No I have not. But It would be worth trying

I have heard of people making an isopropanol extract then smoking the evaporated remains to get the maximum effect.

[powerfulmedicine]

I experimented with this plant a lot when I first became interested in psychoactive plants. I found that smoking it never produced any effects for me and neither did making a tea out of dried leaves. But I was successful with quidding and making tea out of large amounts of fresh leaves.

My method of preparation was meant to minimize any possible degradation of the actives in the plant. I'd collect as many as ~200 large leaves (which is about as much as will fit in a plastic grocery bag) and then prepare them within 4 hours or less in case the actives quickly decompose.

Then I washed the leaves and coarsely chopped them in a blender, adding a small amount of water for lubrication, until I was left with pieces of leaf small enough to be swallowed en-mass.

I generally added enough water to the leaves to bring the total volume up to 64oz. This is a lot of water, but the leaves themselves made up a third or sometimes more of the volume. I used warm instead of hot water in case the active were heat sensitive.

I'd let this steep for 2-4 hours and then I'd consume the entire thing, including the leaves. I found this brew to be one of the most disgusting things I've ever drunk. But it was better than quidding, which took hours to do properly and forced me to taste the leaves the entire time. With the tea I was able to chug the entire dose within as little as 10 minutes and much of the actives were theoretically already extracted into the water, decreasing the come up time and allowing more of the actives to be absorbed overall.

Nausea was mainly a problem while trying to get the brew down and right after that. There was very little nausea if any once the effects began. The only other negative side effect that I noticed was occasional histamine release leading to itchy welts on the back that went away after a few hours. It was very similar to the histamine release that DXM can cause. But this only happened 2 out of ~10 tries.

The effects began within 20-30 minutes. It was calming and sedative with a semipsychedelic feel to it. It increased visual static and seemed to make my night vision more responsive. I also noticed an increase in abstract thought and desire to go for a long walk. These effects were consistent for me. I also got a friend to try it and he described it as similar to being drunk, but more lucid with more mind expanding qualities. I've always thought it felt like a Salvia afterglow.

The effects increase proportional to dose. 65 leaves was the lowest dose I tried. This was a bit on the weak side. 200 leaves was my preferred dose. The effects were very noticeable, but you might be disappointed in you were expecting the sedation of something like a benzodiazepine or the psychedelic effects of psilocybin mushrooms.

[bob]

Many preps tell to use chopped up plantmaterial and soak it in warm water for a while...then drink the water.
But as you guys tell its better to take in the plantmaterial as well:
Chopped up leaves in with warm water...
and after steeping to the mixer...
When all is mixed then drink the whole brew on an empty stomach.

[TheApothecary]

I've always found Coleus Blumei to be intriguing - it is certainly psychoactive by most accounts, but almost unheard of outside of more enthusiastic ethnobotanical circles (despite even being mentioned on the Wikipedia entry).

Alkaloidaholic - any sort of idea what sort of concentration we would be looking at for a tincture to be made?

[DayTrippin']

Back in the, 70's I wandered into a local library, back in (Green point) Brooklyn NY, and just out of curiosity I started leafing through a book about Recreational Drugs, Called an Encyclopedia of sorts, it described the process for releasing the psycho active properties of the Coleus Blumei, and another Coleus genus, I forget now, but in this process it had reccomended steeping 50 to 75 large, fresh leaves in "Cold" water, as heat will destroy much of what you're actually after. After about 4 to 6 he's, you simply drink the resulting mixture which pis preserved through cold filtration/Soaking. Though I suppose cutting the leaves into smaller pieces might seem more efficient, there was a suggestion that the less handling the better. And the Temperature of the water, at just above freezing actually works much better. It gave me a mild trippy feeling, much like a psilocybin high, and mild visual distortions. A walk through the city scape after dark can give you plenty of opportunities to harvest corporate planters. Just take along a large zip lock freezer bag, and pick away, unless you are wary of being caught on camera, as every where you go now a days has you on their surveillance. Its a lot cheaper than going through your plant nursery, or trying to order online. I guess growing up during the 70's had many more advantages to today's paranoid stricken hotbed of evildoer's and corporate observance. You're liable to be treated badly, as an unwanted homeless trespass. What's the world coming to when you're no longer allowed to forage for your ingredients. Iced Tea anybody? (Laughs).