Erythroxylum novogranatense, also known as Colombian Coca,Classification for Kingdom Plantae Down to Species Erythroxylum novogranatense (Morris) Hieron. (n.d.). USDA Plants Database. Retrieved February 13, 2026, from https://plants.usda.gov/classification/84122 is a species of shrub or small tree in the family Erythroxylaceae native to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad-Tobago, and Venezuela. It is used medicinally and as a narcotic.Erythroxylum novogranatense in Flora of China @ efloras.org. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2026, from http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=242426476 Erythroxylum novogranatense is one of the primary species of cultivated Coca,Tackling the challenge of coca plant ID: wild vs cultivated for cocaine. (2024, July 17). University of Portsmouth. https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/news/tackling-the-challenge-of-coca-plant-id-wild-vs-cultivated-for-cocaine despite being less widely cultivated than Erythroxylum coca.We can’t distinguish wild coca plants from those grown to make cocaine. (2024, July 10). EurekAlert! Retrieved February 11, 2026, from https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1050230
Description
Vegetative characteristics Erythroxylum novogranatense is an up to 3 m tall shrub or small tree. The bright green, oblong-elliptic or obovate, petiolate, simple, alternate leaves with a 0.5 cm long petiole are 1.2–4.7 cm long, and 1–1.8 cm wide. Generative characteristics The continuously produced, small, solitary or grouped, pedicellate, hermaphrodite flowers have five oblong, yellowish white, 0,4 cm long, and 0,2 cm wide petals. The five 1.5 mm long sepals are basally fused. The flowers are distylousGanders, F. R. (1979). Heterostyly in Erythroxylum coca (Erythroxylaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 78(1), 11-20. and partly self-compatible,White, D. M., M. B. Islam, and R. J. Mason-Gamer. 2019. Phylogenetic inference in section Archerythroxylum informs taxonomy, biogeography, and the domestication of coca (Erythroxylum species). American Journal of Botany 106(1): 154–165. but only the pin (i.e. long-styled) flowers are partially self-compatible and the thrum (i.e. short-styled) flowers are self-incompatible. Cytology The chromosome count of Erythroxylum novogranatense is 2n = 24.Plowman, T., Rudenberg, L., & Greene, C. W. (1978). Chromosome Numbers in Neotropical Erythroxylum (Erythroxylaceae). Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University, 26(5), 203–209. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41762798
Taxonomy It was first described as Erythroxylum coca var. novogranatense by Daniel Morris in 1889.Erythroxylum novogranatense (D.Morris) Hieron. |. (n.d.). Plants of the World Online. Retrieved February 11, 2026, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:97004-2Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (1887). Bulletin of miscellaneous information (Issue 25, p. 5). H.M. Stationery Office. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40869274 It was elevated to the status of a separate species as Erythroxylum novogranatense by Georg Hans Emmo Wolfgang Hieronymus in 1895.Erythroxylum novogranatense (D.Morris) Hieron. (n.d.). International Plant Names Index. Retrieved February 11, 2026, from https://www.ipni.org/n/97004-2 It is placed in the section Erythroxylum sect. Archerythroxylum.Erythroxylum sect. Archerythroxylum Schulz. (n.d.). BioLib. Retrieved February 14, 2026, from https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxonsubtaxa/id1165853/ It is closely related to Erythroxylum cataractarum, Erythroxylum gracilipes, and Erythroxylum coca. Varieties It has three accepted varieties: Erythroxylum novogranatense var. novogranatense Erythroxylum novogranatense var. tobagense Erythroxylum novogranatense var. truxillense Etymology The specific epithet novogranatense, from the Latin novus meaning new and granatensis meaning of Granada, refers to the geographic origin of the plant in Colombia, which was formerly known as Nueva Granada.Puccio, P., & Beltramini, M. (2018, September 17). Erythroxylum novogranatense. Monaco Nature Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 11, 2026, from https://www.monaconatureencyclopedia.com/erythroxylum-novogranatense/?lang=en
Distribution and habitat Erythroxylum novogranatense is native to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad-Tobago, and Venezuela. It is only known from cultivationWhite, D., Meinhardt, L., Bailey, B., & Pirro, S. (2022). The complete genome sequences of Erythroxylum coca and Erythroxylum novogranatense. Biodiversity genomes, 2022, 10-56179. and Erythroxylum novogranatense would not persist in the wild without human intervention. It tolerates non-acidic soils. It has been Introduced to South-Central and Southeastern China, Hainan, Java, Leeward Islands, Sulawesi, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Windward Islands.
Ecology Erythroxylum novogranatense is a highland variety that is utilized in lowland areas. It is cultivated in drier regions in South America, where it requires irrigation.Plowman T. "Botanical Perspectives on Coca." Journal of Psychedelic Drugs. 1979. 11(1-2): 103-117.
Toxicity The cocaine content in leaves of E. novogranatense var. novogranatense is 0.55-0.93%, with an average of 0.77% and in E. novogranatense var. truxillense the cocaine content is 0.42-1.02%, with a mean of 0.72%. The foliage also contains cinnamoylcocaine.National Center for Biotechnology Information (2026). PubChem Compound Summary for CID 6440936, Cinnamoylcocaine. Retrieved February 14, 2026 from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Cinnamoylcocaine. The plants also contain methyl salicylate.
Use As one of the oldest cultivated plants in the Americas,Conzelman, C. S., & White, D. M. (2016). The botanical science and cultural value of Coca leaf in South America. Roadmaps to regulation: coca, cocaine, and derivatives. Oxford: The Beckley Foundation. Erythroxylum novogranatense has been cultivated as a source of cocaine for thousands of years,Restrepo, D. A., Saenz, E., Jara-Muñoz, O. A., Calixto-Botía, I. F., Rodríguez-Suárez, S., Zuleta, P., ... & D’Auria, J. C. (2019). Erythroxylum in focus: an interdisciplinary review of an overlooked genus. Molecules, 24(20), 3788. but its role in the production of cocaine is relatively small.Idaho State Police. (2011, July 8). Idaho State Police Forensic Laboratory Training Manual Cocaine. Erythroxylum novogranatense var. novogranatense represents about 20% of the coca crop grown in Colombia. Erythroxylum novogranatense var. truxillense is used as a flavouring agent of Coca-Cola, which uses decocainised extracts of this variety. The cocaine produced by the process of decocanisation is sold for legal use in modern surgery for pain management.Islam, M. (2011). Tracing the evolutionary history of coca (Erythroxylum) (Doctoral dissertation, University of Colorado at Boulder). Dried leaves of Erythroxylum novogranatense var. novogranatense are used in the preparation of coca tea by the indigenous Nasa tribe of Colombia.Merchan Otalora, A. (2019). Drugs in oral fluid–an evaluation of the release of cocaine and cocaine derivatives from oral drug depots into oral fluid (Doctoral dissertation, Bournemouth University). The leaves of Erythroxylum novogranatense are also used to produce Coca flour.Rubio, N. C., Herbello-Hermelo, P., Álvarez-Freire, I., Cabarcos-Fernández, P., Tabernero-Duque, M. J., Sánchez-Sellero, I., ... & Moreda-Piñeiro, A. (2025). Impact of coca leaf flour candy consumption on cocaine and benzoylecgonine levels: The role of hygrine and cuscohygrine in distinguishing licit from illicit cocaine use. Forensic Science International, 371, 112494.Sanchez, D. L. T., & Restrepo, D. (2018). Coca Industrialization: A Path to Innovation, Development, and Peace in Colombia. Open Society Foundations. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant throughout tropical countries.
Legality It is illegal in Colombia. It has been subject to extensive eradication.White, D. M., Huang, J. P., Jara-Muñoz, O. A., MadriñáN, S., Ree, R. H., & Mason-Gamer, R. J. (2021). The origins of coca: museum genomics reveals multiple independent domestications from progenitor Erythroxylum gracilipes. Systematic Biology, 70(1), 1-13.
References