Scheila Cristina Biazatti

Departamento de Botânica, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil.

2 papers in the library · 1 citation · publishing 2025-2026

Papers

Dated Phylogeny of Banisteriopsis (Malpighiaceae) Suggests an Ancient Colonization of the Cerrado and No Evidence of Human Manipulation in the Origin of B. caapi.

Plants (Basel, Switzerland) April 7, 2025 Thais A C Santos, Bruno S Amorim, Jefferson R Maciel et al. 1 citation

Banisteriopsis, a genus in the Malpighiaceae family with 61 species, includes B. caapi, a key ingredient in Ayahuasca tea. Analyzing 38 species (over 60% of the genus) using plastid and nuclear DNA, researchers found that Banisteriopsis originated in the Miocene about 22 million years ago. Its diversification coincided with the expansion of dry areas in South America. The genus colonized the Cerrado earlier than most plants, and the biome later served as a source of species for Neotropical rainforests. Results suggest an ancient origin for B. caapi, with no evidence of human manipulation in its diversification, supporting archaeological evidence of millennia-old exchange of uses among Amazonian peoples.

DOI: 10.3390/plants14071149 Full text Malpighiales Neotropics Phylogenetics Ayahuasca-origins +3

Machine learning recovers folk classification of Banisteriopsis caapi from herbarium leaves an ayahuasca liana

iScience April 15, 2026 Scheila Cristina Biazatti, Deborah Bambil, Rômulo Môra et al.

Machine learning analysis of morphological traits within a single plant species shows only partial agreement with traditional ethnobotanical classifications. Confusion matrix and similarity network analyses revealed that automated methods can validate folk taxonomies by detecting subtle variation, though they do not fully replicate previous classification systems. Integrating indigenous knowledge with computational approaches enables systematic assessment of how local communities categorize biological diversity.

DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.115753 Ayahuasca Liana Herbarium Ethnobiology +8