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'''Cryptobotany''' is the study of various exotic plants which are not believed to exist by the scientific community, but which exist in myth, literature or unsubstantiated reports.

As with ], the undisciplined field is associated with fringe research and is considered a ]. Folk legend and ethnic usage of plants, often as ] research, is presented and developed for an unknown species, in the hope of allowing those species to be collected or adequately identified. Any researcher or writer can identify as a cryptobotanist, the field is surveyed within cryptozoological or other journals or with varying degrees of scepticism as a ].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://web.ncf.ca/bz050/criticalcz.html | title = Taking a Hard Look at Cryptozoology: A Critical Approach to Cryptozoology | accessdate = 2007-07-03 | author = Roesch, Ben S. | authorlink = | coauthors = | date = | year = 1999 | format = | work = Author's On-Line Cryptozoology Archives| publisher = |
| quote = Thus the argument goes: in order to ensure accuracy in cryptozoology, research on sasquatch should be done by a primatologist or physical anthropologist, and research on sea serpents should be done by a marine biologist, preferably one who has good knowledge of both invertebrate and vertebrate marine organisms. }}</ref>

Many plants remain undiscovered or are yet to be classified, however cryptobotany usually focuses on fantastical plants believed to have harmful or therapeutic interactions with people. Sources of data may be secondary or scant; reports may be plausible or outlandish. <ref>{{cite web | url = http://web.ncf.ca/bz050/HomePage.scza.html | title = Cryptozoologists: An Endangered Species | accessdate = 2007-07-03 | author = Paul McCarthy | authorlink = | date = 1993-01-11 | format = | work = The Scientist, Vol:7, #1 ) | publisher = | quote = Krantz is a member of a small band of scientists called cryptozoologists, who stalk previously undescribed--and, some would say, nonexistent--animals. This includes new species of lizards, monkeys, and other ho-hum creatures, but also beasts of mythic proportion: ...
}}</ref>

], most frequently inhabiting the jungles of Africa in popular fiction, may have been based on initial reports of plants that could trap and kill mammals, such as '']''.{{fact}} However, there are unconfirmed reports, primarily from Latin America, that allege the existence of still-undiscovered species of large carnivorous plants, according to British cryptozoologist ]'s book ''The Beasts That Hide From Man'' (2003).<ref name="shuker">{{cite book
| last = Shuker
| first = Karl P N
| authorlink = Karl Shuker
| title = The Beasts That Hide From Man
| publisher = Paraview
| year = 2003
| isbn = 1-931044-64-3}}
</ref>

Writers and researchers in the United States have been amongst those to seek reported or legendary plants; the 1950s and 60s saw a number of books and articles on the pyschedelic or mystical plants of ]. ] sought the ] inducing plant sometimes called 'Yage', finding and collecting other novel plant specimens, such as the ] bearing vine '']''. The ]s, ] and ], also entered the jungles of South America; taking the guidance of the local peoples to isolate species in use as ]. <ref> 1993 - ''True Hallucinations: Being an Account of the Author’s Extraordinary Adventures in the Devil’s Paradise'' (HarperSanFrancisco 1st Ed) ISBN 0-06-250545-9 </ref> ] and the associated search for reported species were abundant, entering the popular culture of the time. The earlier books of ] detailed his search for various ] mushrooms and plants, an overlap with a western religious tradition was proposed in ]'s, ''The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross''.<ref>{{cite book | last = Allegro | first = John | authorlink = John Allegro | title = The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: The Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity Within Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton Ltd | date = 1970 | pages = pp. 320 | isbn = 0340128755 }}</ref>

== See also ==
* ]
* ]

==Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin}}
* Terence McKenna, 1992 - ''Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge - A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution'' (Bantam) ISBN 0-553-37130-4
{{refend}}

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