Home›Open Questions›How long have the Mazatec used Salvia divinorum, and where did the plant come from?Open QuestionsHow long have the Mazatec used Salvia divinorum, and where did the plant come from?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "How long have the Mazatec used Salvia divinorum, and where did the plant come from?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/how-long-have-the-mazatec-used-salvia-divinorum-and-where-did-the-plant-come-from.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). How long have the Mazatec used Salvia divinorum, and where did the plant come from?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/how-long-have-the-mazatec-used-salvia-divinorum-and-where-did-the-plant-come-fromCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-how-long-have-the-mazatec-used-salvia-di, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {How long have the Mazatec used Salvia divinorum, and where did the plant come from?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/how-long-have-the-mazatec-used-salvia-divinorum-and-where-did-the-plant-come-from}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesEssays About This Entity (1 essay)Comments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionThe plant has no confirmed wild population, sets seed poorly and is propagated from cuttings, which points to long cultivation, as with kava and Brugmansia. But there is no colonial record of it, unlike the mushrooms and ololiuqui which the friars documented extensively, and no archaeological evidence. So the plant looks ancient and the documentation begins in the twentieth century.What would resolve this Discovery of a wild population would settle the origin. A colonial or pre-conquest reference, possibly under a name not yet connected to it, would settle the antiquity. Genetic work on cultivated clones could estimate how long it has been propagated vegetatively.OpenEthnobotany, plant genetics, Mesoamerican ethnohistoryLeander J. Valdes III, Jose Luis Diaz and Ara G. Paul, Ethnopharmacology of Ska Maria Pastora (Salvia divinorum, Epling and Jativa-M.)Cross-Tradition ConnectionsDiscipline NeededEthnobotany, Scholarly Disciplines Well-attested Source Ethnopharmacology of Ska Maria Pastora (Salvia divinorum, Epling and Jativa-M.)Leander J. Valdes III, Jose Luis Diaz and Ara G. Paultier 1Mesoamerican Ethnohistory, Scholarly Disciplines Well-attested Source Ethnopharmacology of Ska Maria Pastora (Salvia divinorum, Epling and Jativa-M.)Leander J. Valdes III, Jose Luis Diaz and Ara G. Paultier 1Plant Genetics, Scholarly Disciplines Well-attested Source Ethnopharmacology of Ska Maria Pastora (Salvia divinorum, Epling and Jativa-M.)Leander J. Valdes III, Jose Luis Diaz and Ara G. Paultier 1Question OnSalvia Divinorum, Plants Well-attested Source Ethnopharmacology of Ska Maria Pastora (Salvia divinorum, Epling and Jativa-M.)Leander J. Valdes III, Jose Luis Diaz and Ara G. Paultier 1SourcesEthnopharmacology of Ska Maria Pastora (Salvia divinorum, Epling and Jativa-M.)tier 1Leander J. Valdes III, Jose Luis Diaz and Ara G. Paul, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 1983Essays About This Entity (1 essay)Ethnobotany Still Owes This Atlas Four Plant OriginsThe open question itself, confirmed publicComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year