Ariocarpus fissuratus

Ariocarpus fissuratus
CITES Appendix I (CITES)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade:Angiosperms
Clade:Eudicots
Order:Caryophyllales
Family:Cactaceae
Subfamily:Cactoideae
Genus:Ariocarpus
Species: A. fissuratus
Binomial name
Ariocarpus fissuratus
(Engelm.) K.Schum.[1]
Synonyms[1]

Mammillaria fissurata Engelm.
Roseocactus fissuratus (Engelm.) A.Berger
Roseocactus intermedius Backeb. & Kilian

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,[1] dry whiskey and star cactus.[2]

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.[2] When they are found, it is usually due to their pinkish flowers which bloom in October and early November.[2]

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.

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.[3] While it does not contain mescaline like many other North American cactus species (such as peyote), it has been found to contain other centrally active substances, such as N-methyltyramine and hordenine,[3] albeit in doses too small to be active.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "Ariocarpus fissuratus". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2010-10-02.
  2. 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. ISBN 9780896726130. OCLC 80359503.
  3. 1 2 Ratsch, C: "The Sun", page 67. Park Street Press, 2005

References

Ratsch, C. (2005). The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmocology and its Applications, Vermont: Park Street Press. ISBN 0-89281-978-2

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