Caapi is a giant vine with characteristic 12–14 mm (0.5–0.6 in) white or pale pink flowers which most commonly appear in January, but are known to bloom infrequently. It resembles Banisteriopsis membranifolia and Banisteriopsis muricata, both of which are related to caapi.
However, maintaining the suitable humidity, temperature, and light conditions may be a challenge. Ideally, P. viridis should be grown with natural temperature conditions around 3235 °C during the day, and 1218 °C at night, allow natural fluctuations in RH from 50%95%.
Although some nonhuman developmental studies suggested possible toxic effects of ayahuasca or of some of its alkaloids, the limited human literature on adolescents exposed to ayahuasca as early as in the uterus reports no serious toxic effects of the ritual consumption of the brew.