After watching the movie I kept wondering if this plant really exited. If the movie is based on real accounts as the movie claims of the first German explorer who, as we see in the movie, struggled so much in search of this plant, that might be true. Still after doing some research online, I couldn't find any information about such a plant. Does anyone know?
shareNo, I've searched on plant databases offered by UPOV and the USPTO and the term "yakruna" returns no results. I think it was poetic license
shareI believe a decision was made not to name plants that were sacred to the indigenous people. It was more respectful than mere "poetic licence".
shareI think Yakruna is a dialectic variation on Chakruna which is the name of an Ayahuasca component.
shareFor me its pretty obvious this is about ayahuasca brew which can be made from chakruna and caapi. I dont't think anyone who has ever consumed it will doubt it. This plant has a power to make your all world, and all your believes upside down - in a good, teaching way.
"As advised by a shaman, the name of the actual plant, ayahuasca, was omitted from the film."
source: https://milk.xyz/feature/explore-the-amazon-in-the-oscar-nominated-embrace-of-the-serpent/