The Catuaba mystery

 I read an amusing account of a so-called "aphrodisiac herb" today - catuaba

It comes from the bark of a Brazilian tree.. and there are all these legends about it.  The most amusing is the saying "Before a man is sixty, the child belongs to him. After sixty, the child is Catuabas." It sounds like the locals really believe in this stuff - either that or someone is spinning a great yarn.  Hey, that's marketing, right?

What's funny is that they don't know which tree the Catuaba is.   At least two species have been said to be the "real" catuaba.  Not only that, but certain samples of herbal products calling themselves Catuaba were found to include pharmaceuticals!  Haha in other words, sounds like someone mixed in some "male enhancement" product... whoo hoo, this stuff works great!

I'm not a cynic though.  There's probably some plant deep in the forest that is the actual source of all these legends.   Now if you'll stop cutting it all down or flooding it for dams, maybe some more of these rare resources can be brought to light.