Family: Cactaceae

Subfamily: Cactoideae

Tribe: Cacteae

Botanical Name: Lophophora williamsii (Lem. ex Salm-Dyck) J.M. Coult.

Extensions: N/A

English Name(s): Peyote, Peyotl, Devil's Root, Dumpling Cactus, Mescal, Mescal Button, Whiskey Cactus.

Synonyms: Echinocactus williamsii, Lophophora lewinii, Lophophora echinata, Lophophora lutea.

Related Species: Lophophora williamsii var. decipiens.

Description:

Rib form: Generally fairly straight or spiral in form. Many have 5 or 8 ribs, but rib counts increase with size up to 13 ribs. While going from 5 to 8 or 8 to 13 ribs, form may appear wavy much like L. diffusa. These often "straighten" out once larger.

Max. size: With age single heads of 15 cm are possible, but takes many years.

Skin: Dull bluish green colour, sometimes a little greyish.

Areoles: Spineless and wooly.

Roots: Large tap root, as in all Lophophora. large Lophophora williamsii may have 30cm long tap roots. Usually single taps, but may branch. Capillary roots are few and located randomly all over the main tap root.

Reproduction: Self-fertile. Lophophora williamsii will flower all year in favourable conditions. It is actually quite an aggressive flowerer, in respect to other members of the Lophophora genus. When self fertilized fewer seeds usually form, often 0-10. When crossed with another plant seed counts *usually* go up, 5-20.

Flower Morphology: Usually located at the areole(s) in the top center of plant, sometimes flowers from the sides (rarely). Flowers are around 2cm accross when open, broad funnel form tube. Scales are a green colour on back (easily seen when "buds" are emerging from the wool). Style is white in colour. Stigma lobes 3-6 (what we have seen) often at the same height as the anthers, anthers fold in to the stigma when touched, perhaps a fertilization adaptation. Ovary naked.

Petal colour: Pink

Fruits: Fruits are a shade of pink, naked, about 1-2.5 cm long. Often take approximately 2-8 weeks to develop after fertilization in cultivation. Fruit may contain 0-20 seeds each, sometimes more on the odd occasion. [Photo]

Seeds:

Notes:

Varieties/Forms

Caespitosa: This form is a typical williamsi looking plant with many many offsets or "babies". These will often grow new shoots from many areoles of the plant forming a large carpet or clump.

As well as the top which offsets readily, the roots also grow profusely. Most offsets from under the soils surface will put out roots. Over time the root mass can get extremely large comapred to the crown, thus helping it grow much faster. This is often the fasted growing "variety" of any Lophophora in our experience.

Caespitosa variegata: Like "caespitosa", variegated caespitosa has many offsets. With this variety, the offsets have a different colour to them. This form often displays green, yellow, orange and/or pink.

Variegata: Variegated plants are plants with other colours. In cacti, variegation is usully yellow, red, pink or orange.

The photo to the right is a large variegated L. williamsii grafted to Hylocereus.

Texana: Lophophora williamsii var. texana (or texanis, texenis) is a L. williamsii from Texas. In cultivation, many of the ones being sold have a nice spiral pattern and long "hair". They are, however, just a locality.

Cristate: Cristate (AKA crest, crestate) is a very unusual form seen in many other plant families. The growing point grows in a line, instead of keeping a circular form. There are different clones around, some very large, others small with more "normal" offsets.

Referrences: Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases

Kaktusy Special 2, 2005. Genus Lophophora

Chemical

Plant Part

Activities

Alkaloids

Plant: 50,000 ppm

Unknown

Lophophorine

Plant

Unknown

Lophotine

Plant

Unknown

Mescaline

Plant: 15-30% of total Alkaloids [Kaktusy]

7,500-15,000 ppm [Dukes and kaktusy]

Cardiovascular, CNS-Active, CNS-Depressant, Hallucinogen, Neurotoxic, Psychoactive, Psychotomimetic, Sympathomimetic, Teratogenic, Tremorigenic.

Pellotine

Plant: 14-17% of total Alkaloids [Kaktusy]

7,000-8,500 ppm [Dukes and kaktusy]