White growths are a fungus that kills the sedge's fruits and flowers but not the bulbs - crucial to the hunters. The fungus infuses the bulb with an alkoloid that when chewed acts as a physical and mental stimulant. Although the chewed root is not poisonous, men may also rub it on their arrows, believing it improves their shots. Anthropologist Glenn Shepard, Jr., who has studied the Matsigenks for 12 years, once gained a temporary talent from a sedge. To amuse villagers he had long tried to juggle fruit but couldn't learn the trick.
Men also use sedge liquid as eyedrops to improve their vision.
They give other plants to their dogs to sharpen their tracking skills. Matsigenka women have their own apothecary of about 50 species of plants used in caring for newborn infants. In all, Matsigenka use more than 270 medicinal plants. I smoked cigarettes for 3 years. I quit when I was 19.