Lophophora

Mescaline A catecholamine hallucinogen, obtained from the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii). 

Peyote is a common term for two species of cactus, Lophophora williamsii and L. diffusa, native to Mexico and Texas. Archaeological specimens suggest that peyote has been used ceremonially for perhaps as many as 8,000 years. Known to the Aztecs as peyotl, the ritual use of this cactus has persisted among... 

The natural prototype for the phenylalkylamines is mescaline (Structure 1), isolated from the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) by Heffter in 1896 (100) and subsequently obtained synthetically by Spath in 1919 (218). Used for many centuries in the form of peyote by Indians in Mexico and the American Southwest (3), it is often referred to as one of the classic hallucinogens, along with psilocybin, psilocin, and LSD. Little structure-activity work was directed toward mescaline or its congeners until 1955, when Peretz et al. (174) reported that a-methyl mescaline (TMA) (8), which represented a hybrid of the structure... 

Mescaline and related alkaloids are found in varying amounts in cacti of the genera Lophophora, Gymnacalycium, Stensonia, Mammillaria, Ariocarpus, Opuntia, Trichocereus, Pelecyphora, and probably others. Members of the Native American Church do quite well with the dried cactus, but extraction of mescaline is desirable since the pure compound seems to produce fewer unpleasant side effects (e.g., nausea). For an excellent review on the occurrence and chemistry of the mescaline type compounds, see JPS 59,1699(1970) (cf. JPS 60,655(1971)). Various species of these cacti occur in southwestern U.S. as well as Central and South America and have been used by the Aztecs and others for millennia. For a good review of peyote see Lloydia 36,1-58(1973). 

Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) is a small, spineless cactus that grows in the deserts of northern Mexico and the Rio Grande valley (Anderson 1996 Schultes and Hofman 1980) (figure 9.5). It was originally classified as Anhalonium williamsii, until reassigned to the Lophophora genus. Another related species is Lophophora diffusa. 

Peyote (Lophophora williamsii). Reprinted from Barron et al., "The Hallucinogenic Drugs." Scientific American. April 1964, p. 210. Illustration by Alex Semenoick. 

A number of very important natural and synthetic biochemicals belong to the phenylethylamine family. Two of these compounds, dopamine and epinephrine (adrenaline), are neurotransmitters, substances that carry chemical messages through the nervous system of humans and other animals. A third phenylethylamine, tyrosine, is an essential amino acid. And a familiar phenylethylamine found in plants is mescaline, whose chemical name is 2-(3,4,5-trimethoxy-phenyl)ethylamine. The primary natural sources of mescaline are four varieties of cactus two peyote species (Lophophora wiUiamsii and Lophophora diffusa), the San Pedro cactus (Trichocereus pacha-noi), and the Peruvian Torch cactus (Trichocereus peruvianus). 

The better-known and widely used hallucinogenic plants are San Isidro mushroom Psilocyhe cubensis), ergot Claviceps), soma Amanita muscaria), peyote Cactus lophophora), yage (or ayahuasca), the vision vine of the Amazon Banisteriopsis caapi), cannabis Cannabis sativa and indica) and perhaps coca Erythroxylum novo-gratense). 

Cactus Lophophora williamsii Top mescal button Mescaline Swallowed Hallucinogenic Native American Church Mexico, Texas... 

Figure 5. An example of protoalkaloids. Mescaline is the alkaloid derived from L-tyrosine and extracted from the Peyote cactns (Lophophora williamsii) belonging to the Cactns family (Cactaceae). MescaUne has strong psychoactive and haUncinogenic properties. Peyote cactns grows in the desert areas of northern Mexico and the sonthern parts of the USA. This plant was nsed in Pre-Colnmhian America in the shamanic practice of local tribes.

Mescaline is an alkaloid isolated from the peyote cactus, species Lophophora williamsii or Anhalonium lewinii, that grows in the southwestern United States and in Mexico. Mescaline is found in buttons that grow on top of the plant. Aztec and Native American Indians used the buttons in religious rites and for treatment of snakebite, flu, and arthritis. Some street names include bad seed, blue caps, cactus buttons, devils root, mesc, moon, peyote, shaman, and tops. 

Which brings us back to the mushrooms, and the topic of the law. In the original writing of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, our Federal drug law, there are only four plants listed as being "Scheduled Drugs." In Schedule I there was Marijuana (later defined as the plant Cannabis spp.) and Peyote (later defined as the botanical Lophophora williamsii) in Schedule II there was Opium poppy and poppy straw, and Coca leaves. It is generally known that commercial opium comes from the plant Papaver somniferum and that commercial coca comes... 

Identification of the Teonanacatl, or Sacred Mushroom of the Aztecs, with the narcotic cactus, Lophophora, and an account of its ceremonial use in ancient and modern times, an address delivered May 4, 1915, before the Botanical Society of Washington. Published as an An Aztec Narcotic (Lophophora Williamsii) in Journal of Heredity, Vol. 6, July 1915. return... 

The Cactaceae are indigenous to the New World. They are economically important as ornamentals the fruits of Opuntia arc used as food the peyote (Lophophora wilUamsii) is a well-known hallucinogen. 

Another naturally occurring drug that is similar to amphetamine can be found in the cactus Lophophora williamsii. Extracts are used to prepare a drink called peyote that contains 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl-ethylamine(the meth and phenyl point to a molecule that is quite lipid soluble). Known as mescaline, this compound is structurally similar to the catecholamines dopamine and norepinephrine but seems to act more directly upon serotonin receptors because of the presence of the meth-oxy groups on the molecule. This feature of the compound s structure would make the compound more fat-soluble and therefore better able to enter the brain quickly and may explain... 

Mescaline (peyote) is one such drug that has a cultural history dating from before the time of Christ as well as a separate history as a street drug. It is derived mainly from two members of the Cactaceae family—the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) and the San Pedro cactus (Trichocereus pachanoi). 

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