The roots of the shrub Tabernanthe iboga first aroused pharmacological interest in 1864 when a French naval surgeon brought some back from Gabon, West Africa. The root was eaten by various Gabonese tribes as part of initiation ceremonies of puberty and was said to produce intoxication, visions, and a reduced need for sleep.

An active alkaloid, ibogaine (C₂₀ H₂₆N₂ O), was isolated in 1901 from the roots, bark, and leaves of Tabernanthe iboga. In the early 1900s, some medical researchers in France recommended ibogaine for use in treating neurasthenia and asthenia (syndromes that would probably be diagnosed in the 1990s as depression or fatigue syndrome). Although the drug was part of a proprietary medication marketed in Europe in the late 1930s and throughout the 1940s, ibogaine attracted little medical or scientific attention until the emergence of interest in indole alkaloids that accompanied the use of reserpine in the 1950s...