Peyote

Lophophora williamsii

Mescal Peyote Parts used Uses Habitat and cultivation Constituents

Peyote - cactus growing to 2 in (5 cm). Peyote has a squat gray-green body with tufted hairs, and pink or white flowers.

Centuries before the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez arrived in Mexico, the Aztec Indians were using peyote - a short, squat, button-shaped cactus that grows in the wild desert countryside. The Aztecs had discovered that peyote had certain mystical powers. During religious rites, they consumed bits of the succulent stem in order to hear and see strange sounds and images, which enhanced their spiritual experience.

The practice of chewing small slices of peyote (often called mescal buttons) continues today among many North American tribes. Although the consumption of peyote is illegal in the United States, the law allows it to be used as part of the religious ceremony of the Native American Church, whose membership is largely American Indian.

Scientists have identified some 56 individual alkaloid substances in peyote that may act as medications within the body. The most active and best known of these alkaloids is mescaline, a powerful psychotomimetic agent - that is, a medication that can alter the mind and produce behavior similar to that exhibited by psychotic individuals. The mescaline-taker may experience various imaginary or hallucinatory effects while under the drug's influence - bold and beautiful colors and lights, the transformation of one's companions and oneself into strange beasts or abstract forms, the illusion of weightlessness, even total freedom from the body. But there is an underlying similarity in the reports of most users: it is a feeling of exaltation and a certainty that the vision is fraught with spiritual significance.

Many believe that the mescaline experience has given them valuable insights into themselves and the world around them. Others have come away with abiding anxieties, fears, even panic. While mescaline use is not habit-forming, it is possible that regular consumption of peyote could be psychologically damaging.

For a cactus that packs such a chemical wallop, peyote is rather demure looking. It lacks the sharp spines characteristic of most other cacti, bearing only pencillike tufts of woolly white hairs along each of its 5 to 13 ribs. Only a small part of the plant - 4 inches at the most - shows above the sand of the limestone deserts in Mexico and southern Texas where peyote grows, but the fleshy, grayish to chalky blue stem sits atop a massive, carrot like taproot. Tiny pinkish to creamy white flowers are borne atop the stem.

As might be expected of such a chemical storehouse, peyote has been the object of much research. Because of the underlying similarity in the experiences of most users, some scientists speculate that mescaline might work on a specific area of the brain; and researchers are experimenting with laboratory animals in an attempt to further define its action. And because the medication's effects so closely resemble mental illness, it is hoped that the researchers' work will lead to a more effective treatment of psychologically disturbed people.

PARTS USED

Whole plant.

USES

Peyote is a shamanistic plant, taken in Native American rituals to deepen spiritual understanding. Peyote plays an important part in the emotional and mental state of the community. Peyote is also used to treat fevers, as a painkiller for rheumatism, and to treat paralysis. Peyote is applied as a poultice for fractures, wounds, and snake bite. Peyote is also used to induce vomiting.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Peyote is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern US.

CONSTITUENTS

Peyote contains alkaloids, principally mescaline, which is a powerful hallucinogen.