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Genus Lophophora Coult. We come here to one of several cactus genera which seem to lie between the Echinocacti and the Mammillarias. Although there have been attempts in the past to submerge them in first one and then the other of these larger groups, they seem to defy either combination. The reasons for this may seem rather technical to the nonspecialist, but they are the stuff out of which cactus taxonomy is constructed. Although some of its members were first described by Lemaire as Echinocacti , the significant points which seem to rule the Lophophoras out of the genus Echinocactus are the facts that the ovary and fruit on them are entirely naked and that the fruit remains always fleshy. These characters would put them in agreement with the Mammillarias, but they are even more clearly set apart from that genus by the facts that their stems are ribbed and that their monomorphic areoles produce the flowers from the apexes of young tubercles rather than from the axils. So this small genus is left by all recent students to stand alone. There are only a very few species in this genus, and as yet little agreement exists as to exactly how many they number. Most authors list two and some three or four, but there is no standardization of species and varietal arrangement , so no definite figure can be given. The members of Lophophora are small, globose, or depressed globose cacti growing from comparatively large, carrot-shaped taproots. Usually the stem of the plant is to about 3 inches in diameter, and although one form sometimes reaches to about 5 inches, they stand no more than 2 inches above the ground. The stems of an individual may be single or may sometimes branch from the base to form large clusters. The surfaces of these cacti are blue-green, usually with much gray glaucescence . There are no spines at all after the early seedling stage. The very broad and flat ribs are composed of some of the broadest, flattest, most confluent tubercles seen anywhere. The areoles are small and round, with long white to yellowish wool which tends to persist. The flowers are small, bellshaped , and pink, pale rose, white, or rarely pale yellowish. The fruits are club-shaped and rose-pink or reddish. The insignificant little members of this genus have been famous out of all proportion to their size and appearance as far back as we can trace them. They are the sacred plants of the Indians best known by the ancient Indian name, peyotl, which has become the peyote of common usage. This is all because these plants contain in their flesh a group of alkaloids which, when taken into the human body, have remarkable effects upon the nervous system . From ancient times to the present, Indians of Mexico and the U.S. Southwest have eaten these cacti specifically for the effects they have on their senses. 138 genus Lophophora Lophophora williamsii (Lem. in SD) Coult. Peyote, Mescal Button, Whisky Cactus, Dry Whisky roots Large carrot-shaped taproot, same diameter at top as stem, tapering slowly below, usually 3—5 in. long. stems At first single, often clustering to form up to 50 in 1 variety; hemispherical or usually depressed-globular; to about 5 in. diameter and about 2 in. tall; flesh soft and flabby; blue-green, usually with gray glaucescence; 5—13 very broad, very low ribs separated by narrow grooves, straight or sinuous, each rib more or less divided into tubercles; at apex tubercles fairly distinct; lower, only very slight projections or almost entirely obliterated; may have small wrinkles. areoles Round, or nearly so; small, about 1/8 in. diameter, 1/4—11/4 in. apart on summits of tubercles; at first filled with much long white or yellowish wool; with age, wool usually turns gray and may be worn off; flowers produced from within areoles at summits of young tubercles. spines Spineless after very young seedling stage. flowers Small, usually pale pink or whitish, rarely rose or pale yellowish; bell-shaped, 1/2—1 in. diameter; small, naked ovary; outermost perianth segments greenish with entire edges; inner segments almost linear, pale pink to rose, white, or yellowish; whitish filaments; yellow anthers 3—7 reddish or yellowish stigma lobes. fruits Club-shaped, 3/8—3/4 in. long, pale pink or very pale rose when ripe, remaining fleshy and indehiscent; seeds about 1/16 in. long, with basal hila. range From Mexico across Rio Grande a short...

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