Herb. No. 038 · Cactaceae
Chihuahuan Desert — south Texas and north-central Mexico. Slow, protected, not a garden cactus.
Native · North America · Mexico & Central America
Peyote
Lophophora williamsii
A small, spineless desert cactus, sacred in Native American Church ceremony and illegal to possess for almost everyone else.
Mescaline and peyote are US Schedule I. The only broad federal exemption is for bona fide Native American Church ceremonial use. The cactus is also conservation-listed in its range. Do not collect it.
Peyote contains mescaline, a phenethylamine psychedelic. Indigenous ceremonial use in the Rio Grande basin long predates US drug law. Wild populations are slow-growing and have been hammered by poaching. There is no ethical hobbyist harvest. If you are not a member of a recognized ceremonial context, this plant is not yours to take, grow, or eat.
Flavor
Intensely bitter, alkaline cactus. Ceremony, not cuisine.
Parts used
Crown ('button') — ceremonial exemption only
In favor
- Deep living religious tradition for exempt communities
Against
- Schedule I for everyone else
- Conservation crisis
- Nausea, tachycardia, psychological risk
- Poaching destroys stands that take decades to recover