Harmal

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This article is about a plant. For a town in Lebanon, see Hermel.

iHarmal
Harmal (Peganum harmala) flower
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Sapindales Family: Nitrariaceae Genus: Peganum Species: P. harmala
Binomial name
Peganum harmala L.

Harmal (Peganum harmala) is a plant of the family Nitrariaceae, native from the eastern Mediterranean region east to India. It is also sometimes known as Syrian Rue, a confusing name as it is not related to rue (Ruta, family Rutaceae).

It has been used as an entheogen in the Middle East, and in modern Western culture, it is often used as an analogue of Banisteriopsis caapi to create Ayahuasca, a South American entheogen. Syrian Rue is however recognized as a separate plant with a distinctly different chemical makeup than caapi, and having a unique character of its own. In Turkey, dried capsules from this plant are strung and hung in homes and vehicles to protect against the evil eye.

The active alkaloids of Harmal seeds are the MAOI (MonoAmine Oxidase Inhibitor) compounds harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine (collectively known as harmala alkaloids).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Peganum harmala

[edit] External links

• Erowid Syrian Rue Vault