In parts of Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, "Chacruna" is used to refer to Chaliponga, Diplopterys cabrerana

Diplopterys cabrerana

Diplopterys cabrerana is a South American rainforest vine, commonly known as Chaliponga, Chagropanga and, in parts of Ecuador, Chacruna...

, rather than P. viridis.

Psychotria viridis is a shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 from the coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

 family, Rubiaceae

Rubiaceae

The Rubiaceae is a family of flowering plants, variously called the coffee family, madder family, or bedstraw family. The group contains many commonly known plants, including the economically important coffee , quinine , and gambier , and the horticulturally valuable madder , west indian jasmine ,...

. It has many local names, including Chacruna and Chacrona (from Quechua

Quechua languages

Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...

 chaqruy, "to mix").

It is a close relative of the Ecuadorian Psychotria carthagensis, known as samiruka (amiruca), and some dispute remains as to whether or not the two are actually separate species.
Psychotria viridis is a perennial bush which grows up to 5 m tall and 2 m wide.
In the middle and lower parts of the stem, situated between the insertion points of the two opposite leaves there is a horizontal scar 0.3-1 mm wide that extends between the leaves (or leaf scars) and sometimes also connects over the tops of these scars, and along the top side of this scar there is a dense, usually furry line of fine trichomes (i.e., plant hairs) usually 0.5-1 mm long that are reddish brown when dried (Figure 4A).