What is Peyote?
{{Speciesbox | name = Peyote | image = Peyote Cactus.jpg | image_caption = Peyote in the wild | status = VU | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref>{{cite iucn|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/151962/0|title=''Lophophora williamsii''|date=2017|accessdate=12 April 2018}}</ref> | genus = Lophophora | species = williamsii | authority = ([[Charles Antoine Lemaire|Lem.]]) [[John Merle Coulter|J.M.Coult.]] | synonyms = ''Echinocactus williamsii'' Lemaire ex Salm-Dyck<br> ''Lophophora lewinii'' (K. Schumann) Rusby<br> ''Lophophora echinata'' Croizat<br> ''Lophophora fricii'' Habermann<br> ''L. williamsii'' var. ''fricii'' (Habermann) Grym<br> ''L. diffusa'' subsp. ''fricii'' (Habermann) Halda<br> ''Lophophora jourdaniana'' Haberman Kim Jung uno }} The '''peyote''' is either of two [[species]] of the cactus [[genus]] Lophophora of [[plant]]s in the family [[Cactaceae]]. The most common plant, L. williamsii, grow in [[North America]], mostly in [[Mexico]],<ref>http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/454720/peyote</ref> can be found in the [[Chihuahuan desert]] of southern [[Texas]] and northern Mexico. The size is about eight centimeters (three inches) wide and five centimeters (two inches) tall. It is mostly blue green in color, with pink to white flowers, growing in groups among scrub, in areas with [[limestone]] soil. L. diffusa grows only in a small area in central Mexico, the color is yellow green, with white to yellow flowers. Peyote has [[hallucinogenic]] effects, made by at least 28 different [[alkaloid]]s, mostly [[mescaline]]. In many countries it is illegal to sell, use or posses both dried plant-material and living plants, but some places also give an exception from the [[law]] when used in religious rituals, such as by [[The Native American Church]] where it is used in a similar way as some [[Native American]] tribes, that likely have used peyote for at least 5,500 years. in their rituals. == References == <references /> {{biology-stub}} [[Category:Cactaceae]] [[Category:Illegal drugs]]