Lophophora williamsii

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Lophophora williamsii
Lophophora williamsii

Lophophora williamsii

Systematics
Order : Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family : Cactus family (Cactaceae)
Subfamily : Cactoideae
Tribe : Cacteae
Genre : Lophophora
Type : Lophophora williamsii
Scientific name
Lophophora williamsii
( Lem. Ex Salm-Dyck ) JMCoult.

Lophophora williamsii is a species of plant in the genus Lophophora from the cactus family(Cactaceae). The specific epithet williamsii honors either the English Reverend Father Theodore Williams, whoowned a cactus collectionin Hendon Vicarage ( Middlesex ), or - more likely - the Englishman CH Williams, who traveled to the Brazilian state of Bahia. Trivial names are "Peyote", "Peyotl", "Challote", "Mescal" or "Schnapskopf". In Aztec it is called peyōtl , from which the Spanish name "peyote" is derived.

description

Lophophora williamsii grows individually or forms groups with a diameter of up to 1 meter. The spherical to flattened spherical shoots are blue-green or occasionally reddish green. The shoots reach heights of growth between 2 and 6 centimeters and a diameter of 4 to 11 centimeters. The four to 14 ribs are usually well developed. These usually have clear but very variable intermediate furrows and sometimes only simple bumps. The areoles are tufted with soft, yellowish or whitish hair . There are no thorns .

The usually pink or slightly pinkish white flowers can sometimes be reddish. They have a diameter between 1 and 2.2 centimeters. Your pericarpel is bald.

Distribution, systematics and endangerment

Lophophora williamsii is very variable in its wide range . It stretches from west Texas along the Rio Grande to south Texas and further through north Mexico to San Luis Potosí .

The first description as Echinocactus williamsii was made in 1845 by Joseph zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck . The name of the species had already been given by Charles Lemaire in the same year , but he did not provide a description of the plant. In 1872 the species was placed in the genus Ariocarpus by Andreas Voss . John Merle Coulter classified it in 1891 first as Mammillaria williamsii in the genus Mammillaria , but then in 1894 placed the new genus Lophophora and classified the species in this genus. Louis Lewin described Peyotl as Anhalonium lewinii in 1888 .

Flower of Lophophora williamsii

Due to the variability of Lophophora williamsii there is a large number of synonyms :

  • Lophophora lewinii (Henn. Ex Lewin) Rusby (1894)
  • Lophophora echinata Croizat (1944)
  • Lophophora lutea (Rouhier) Backeb. (1961)
  • Lophophora fricii Haberm. (1974)
  • Lophophora jourdaniana Haberm. (1975)
  • Lophophora diffusa subsp. fricii (Haberm.) Halda (1997)
  • Peyote var. Fricii (Haberm.) Grym (1997)

Peyote was in the Red List of Threatened Species of IUCN in 2009 as " Least Concern (LC) ", d. H. classified as not endangered in nature. In 2013 it was named " Vulnerable (VU) ", i. H. listed as endangered.

Cultural history

Central American grave figures from around 200 BC. BC prove the use of the cactus containing psychotropic substances in "American antiquity". The peyote played a role in the cult of the Mexican inhabitants even before the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, as Bernardino de Sahagún reported in 1569 in the so-called Codex Florentinus . Peyote was used by ritual specialists in the context of ethnic beliefs to secure field fertility, hunting success and the luck of war. However, it was also used non-ritually to combat hunger, thirst and fatigue, for clairvoyance and for healing purposes.

In Mexico, gradually replaced by the agave brandy tequila due to the influence of Christian missionaries , at the beginning of the 20th century it only played a role there for the Huicholes and the Tarahumara . Interestingly, a rite revolving around the consumption of peyote found widespread use from 1870 onwards among the Indian tribes of North America who had not known peyote until then. The Native American Church , founded in 1914, places the peyote ritual at the center of its identity, despite bans in many US states. The belief system is therefore also referred to as peyotism . In the meantime, a special rule has been set for this religious group that allows believers to own and consume the cactus or the mescaline it contains .

ingredients

Structural formula of mescaline

Lophophora williamsii contains more than 50 alkaloids . The most important of them is the psychotropic mescaline , which produces effects similar to LSD and psilocybin .

The contained hordenine has an antibiotic effect. It works against 18 types of penicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus as well as several other bacteria and a fungus.

proof

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Urs Eggli, Leonard E. Newton: Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names . Birkhäuser 2004, ISBN 3-540-00489-0 , p. 257.
  2. ↑ Joseph zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck: Description of some new cacti which are cultivated in the Princely Salm-Dyck'schen garden . In: General garden newspaper . Volume 13, 1845, pp. 385-386. (on-line)
  3. ↑ John Merle Coulter: Botany of Western Texas . In: Contributions from the US National Herbarium . Volume 3, 1891, p. 129. (online)
  4. ^ John Merle Coulter: Preliminary revision of the North American species of Cactus, Anhalonium and Lophophora . In: Contributions from the US National Herbarium . Volume 3, 1894, p. 131. (online)
  5. ^ Louis Lewin : About Anhalonium Lewinii and other Cacteen . In: Archives for Experimental Pathology and Pharmacology . tape 34 , no. 5-6 , December 14, 1894, pp. 374–391 , doi : 10.1007 / BF01826536 ( Springer Link [accessed July 14, 2015]).
  6. ↑ Lophophora williamsii in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2011. Posted by: Terry, M., 2009. Accessed December 20, 2013.
  7. ↑ Christian F. Feest : Animated Worlds - The religions of the Indians of North America. In: Small Library of Religions , Vol. 9, Herder, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-451-23849-7 . P. 200.
  8. ^ Edward F. Anderson : The Cactus Family . Timber Press, Portland (Oregon) 2001, ISBN 0-88192-498-9 , pp. 45 .
  9. ↑ James A. McCleary, Paul S. Sypherd, David L. Walkington: Antibiotic activity of an extract of peyote (Lophophora Williamii (Lemaire) Coulter) . In: Economic Botany . Volume 14, No. 3, 1958, pp. 247-249, doi : 10.1007 / BF02907956

further reading

  • Edward F. Anderson: Peyote: The Divine Cactus . Arizona 1996, ISBN 0-8165-1654-5 .
  • Rudolf Grym: Rod / The genus Lophophora . Bratislava 1997, ISBN 80-85441-11-X .
  • Christian von Sehrwald: In the footsteps of the gods - peyote and the ethnic groups of northwestern Mexico with special attention to the ceremonial cycle of the Huichol Indians. Nachtschatten-Verlag, Solothurn 2005, ISBN 3-03788-113-5 .
  • The genus Lophophora COULTER . Kaktusy 2005, Special 2, ISSN  0862-4372 .
  • Alexander S. Dawson: The Peyote Effect: From the Inquisition to the War on Drugs. University of California, Oakland 2018, ISBN 978-0-5202-8543-9 .

Web links

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