Peyote

Lophophora williamsii

Cactaceae

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.

Parts used: Crown ('button') — ceremonial exemption only
Traditional notes: Native American Church sacrament · Huichol and other Indigenous ceremony
Habitat only: Limestone Chihuahuan Desert scrub in Texas and Mexico. Extremely slow. Often hidden among nurse plants.

Leave it in the Chihuahuan Desert. A button takes a decade and is protected.
No greenhouse protocol. Conservation and federal law both say no.
Native American Church use is a legal category of its own — not a hobby.

Safety

Unexempt possession Heart disease Psychosis risk Any wild collection

Lore

Lophophora, a slow desert button, sacramental in the Native American Church and Schedule I outside that context. It takes a decade to replace a harvested crown. The map is the Chihuahuan, not a garden.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.