MADAGASCAR PERIWINKLE / Catheranthus roseus

This is an important plant, which has been used in cancer research, particularly
with regard to leukemia in children. But apart from that, it brings good luck to a house in Haiti, where it is used for hypertension (F Huxley), as it also is in Chinese medicine (Chinese medicinal herbs of Hong Kong. Vol 3). It was noted during medical research that a side effect of its use was euphoria and hallucinations. When this became generally known, there was an outbreak of Catheranthus smoking in Miami, where it grows like a weed. But the side effects of smoking it are pretty severe (Emboden. 1979).