Ariocarpus fissuratus (formerly known as Anhalonium fissuratus) is a species of cactus found in small numbers in northern Mexico and Texas in the United States. Common names include living rock cactus, false peyote, chautle,[3]dry whiskey and star cactus.[4]
Description
This cactus consists of many small tubercles growing from a large tap root. They are usually solitary, rarely giving rise to side shoots from old areoles. The plant is greyish-green in color, sometimes taking on a yellowish tint with age. Its growth rate is extremely slow. A. fissuratus is naturally camouflaged in its habitat, making it difficult to spot.[4] When they are found, it is usually due to their pinkish flowers which bloom in October and early November.[4]
Cultivation
In cultivation, Ariocarpus fissuratus is often grafted to a faster-growing columnar cactus to speed growth, as they would generally take at least a decade to reach maturity on their own. They require very little water and fertilizer, a good amount of light, and a loose sandy soil with good drainage.
Poaching
Tens of thousands of this protected Texas cacti are annually removed Illegally.[5] Poaching has even extended to Big Bend National Park. Smugglers have taken entire populations of A. fissuratus, primarily for collectors, mainly in Europe and Asia. Loss of such a wide range of genetic variation weakens the species' chances of future survival.[6] According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the cactus is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).[7]
Psychoactivity
Ariocarpus fissuratus is a unique species in that it has been used by Native American tribes as a mind-altering substance, usually only as a substitute for peyote.[8] While it does not contain mescaline like species such as peyote, it has been found to contain other centrally active substances, such as N-methyltyramine and hordenine,[8] albeit in doses too small to be active.
1 2 3 Morey, Roy (2008). Little Big Bend: Common, Uncommon, and Rare Plants of Big Bend National Park. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press. p.43. ISBN9780896726130. OCLC80359503.
↑ Walker, R, “Texas’s cactus cops battle to save rare desert beauty from smuggling gangs” , The Guardian , 20 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
↑ Barrus, A. “Special Agents and Partners Strike Major Blow to Cactus Black Market” , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
1 2 Ratsch, C: "The Sun", page 67. Park Street Press, 2005
Related Research Articles
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Ariocarpus is a small genus of succulent, subtropical plants of the family Cactaceae.
Epithelantha is a genus of cactus that is native to north-eastern Mexico, and the south-western United States from western Texas to Arizona. There are eight species recognised in the genus Epithelantha. The name Epithelantha refers to the flower position near the apex of the tubercles.
Leocereus bahiensis is a species of cactus and the only species of the genus Leocereus.
Astrophytum asterias is a species of cactus in the genus Astrophytum, and is native to small parts of Texas in the United States and Mexico. Common names include sand dollar cactus, sea urchin cactus, star cactus and star peyote.
Ariocarpus agavoides is a species of cactus. It is endemic to Mexico. It grows in dry shrubland in rocky calcareous substrates.
Ariocarpus scaphirostris is a species of plant in the family Cactaceae. The Ariocarpus scaphirostris was originally called Ariocarpus scapharostrus in the 1930. D. R. Hunt, however, changed it to Ariocarpus scaphirostris.
Mammillaria zeilmanniana is a species of cactus. It is endemic to Mexico, where it is known only from Guanajuato. It grows in a narrow canyon usually near water where there is high humidity, its total population is fewer than 250 individuals. It is threatened by illegal collection for the horticultural trade. Recent studies link this species to Mammillaria crinita
Echinopsis pachanoi —known as San Pedro cactus—is a fast-growing columnar cactus native to the Andes Mountains at 2,000–3,000 m (6,600–9,800 ft) in altitude. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, and it is cultivated in other parts of the world. Uses for it include traditional medicine and traditional veterinary medicine, and it is widely grown as an ornamental cactus. It has been used for healing and religious divination in the Andes Mountains region for over 3,000 years. It is sometimes confused with its close relative Echinopsis peruviana.
The saguaro is a tree-like cactus species in the monotypic genus Carnegiea that can grow to be over 12 meters tall. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and the Whipple Mountains and Imperial County areas of California. The saguaro blossom is the state wildflower of Arizona. Its scientific name is given in honor of Andrew Carnegie. In 1994, Saguaro National Park, near Tucson, Arizona, was designated to help protect this species and its habitat.
The peyote is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. Peyote is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl peyōtl, meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root peyōni, "to glisten". Peyote is native to Mexico and southwestern Texas. It is found primarily in the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Chihuahuan Desert and in the states of Nayarit, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosí among scrub. It flowers from March to May, and sometimes as late as September. The flowers are pink, with thigmotactic anthers.
Many cacti are known to be psychoactive, containing phenethylamine alkaloids such as mescaline. However, the two main ritualistic (folkloric) genera are Echinopsis, of which the most psychoactive species is the San Pedro cactus, and Lophophora, with peyote being the most psychoactive species. Several other species pertaining to other genera are also psychoactive, though not always used with a ritualistic intent.
Echinomastus mariposensis is a rare species of cactus known by the common names Lloyd's fishhook cactus, golfball cactus, silver column cactus, and Mariposa cactus. It is native to a small section of territory straddling the border between Brewster County, Texas, in the United States and the state of Coahuila in Mexico. It has been federally listed as a threatened species in the United States since 1979.
Echinocereus stramineus is a species of cactus in which stramineus means made of straw. There are various common names such as strawberry cactus, porcupine hedgehog cactus, straw-color hedgehog, and pitaya. The straw-colored spines make this particular plant distinguished from other Echinocereus. The aged spines may turn to white color and are very fragile.
Psychoactive plants are plants, or preparations thereof, that upon ingestion induce psychotropic effects. As stated in a reference work:
Psychoactive plants are plants that people ingest in the form of simple or complex preparations in order to affect the mind or alter the state of consciousness.
Mammillaria bocasana is a species of cactus in the subfamily Cactoideae. It is often sold as a "powder puff" cactus, and also as a "Powder Puff Pincushion." The plant is protected from collecting in the wild in Mexico.
References
Ratsch, C. (2005). The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmocology and its Applications, Vermont: Park Street Press. ISBN0-89281-978-2
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