plants for reasons other than specifically ceremonial: the root- 

 bark of Guayacan for shampoo, and Drago {Jatropha dioica) sap 

 for a dark red eye (Cardenas, 1974). Indian pilgrims also seek 

 religious mementos of stone, soil, and plant useful in their reli- 

 gious ceremony. A multitude of various colored stones are scat- 

 tered across the landscape like jewelry. Marble-sized stones are 

 used for bosses on the ceremonial drum; fragments of quartz are 

 collected for musical gourds. Soil is taken home and shaped into a 

 crescent altar. Though Peyote rarely occurs in red sandy soils 

 ("Goliad sands"), a Peyotero noted that Cheyenne and Coman- 

 che Indians from Oklahoma obtained the red sand for their altar 

 (Cardenas, 1974). Wood of the Retama tree {Parkinsonia acu- 

 leata) has been sought for ceremonial drum sticks. 



The shrub micro-habitat appears an opportune seed bed and 

 protective environment during the early stages of Peyote's life 

 cycle. Under the shrub canopy few other plants grow; shade and 

 reduced wind movement reduce evaporation. The accumulation 

 of soil and leaf litter under shrubs are favorable habitats for seed 

 germination; many juvenile Peyote plants germinate within moist 

 leaf duff. Peyote is much less abundant in more exposed habitats; 

 on pathways between the shrub matrix the plant is trampled by 

 deer and cattle, yet smaller plants embedded within pebbles 

 escape trampling. 



The thornbrush vegetation was formerly more restricted in 

 areal extent. About 100 to 150 years ago, acacias and otherthorny 

 shrubs were largely confined to rocky, broken uplands, whereas 

 deeper soils of level terrain supported a grassland to savanna 

 vegetation type (Correll, 1 970). Spanish settlement since the mid- 

 eighteenth century altered the vegetation by overgrazing and 

 frequent fires. The grazing of cattle, sheep, and goats, reduced the 

 grass cover, and thus the combustible material; frequent fires also 

 reduced the supply of fuel for future fires and encouraged the 

 encroachment of brush (Cook, 1908). Carl O. Sauer suggested 

 that the use of fire by Indians created a "cactus savanna" which 

 increased the nopal, valued by Indians for its edible fruits {tuna), 

 (Sauer, 1971). 



Juvenile Peyote plants are normally unicephalous, but age and 

 injury cause them to become polycephalous (Schultes, 1938). 



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