Etymology

Erythroxylum comes from Greek eruthros: red and xylum: wood, referring to the colour of its bark. Coca comes from the Quechua language kuka.

Description and flowering period

It is a shrub reaching 2 to 3 meters in cultivation and up to 6 meters in the wild. The branches are reddish-brown. They bear alternate, light-green, oval to elliptical leaves which are from 2 to 7 cm in length. On the underside of leaves, 2 curved veins on each side of the midrib, mark out a lighter central section. Once dried, the leaves release a strong aromatic scent, sometimes quite similar to that of tea leaves. The star-shaped white flowers have 5 petals and are borne in small clusters stemming from leaf-nodes. The fruits are oblong red berries.

Habitat

It can be found on acid soils, at altitudes of 300 to 2000 meters.

Uses

Traditional: Leaves are infused or chewed (a chewing paste is made from leaves, potato ashes and bananas).
Medicinal: Leaves are used for a variety of active elements they contain: cocaine, ecgonine (which has an energising effect) as well as minerals and trace elements (calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E, magnesium, iron…)
Ritual: Sacred plant for the Amerindian People, it has been used for 5000 years in religious ceremonies to make contact with divinities and spirits (Mama Coca, goddess of health and joy, is the daughter of Pachamama: Mother earth).

Notes

Nowadays, Coca is above all known as a narcotic drug: cocaine, which is an alkaloid extracted from coca leaves (since the 19th century) via a complex chemical based extraction process. It is subject to massive illegal trafficking, especially in South-America. Within its natural range, coca cultivation is tolerated for traditional uses (maté drink, folk medicine...).

Translated by: François Saint-Hillier – MNHN