Safford: An Aztec Narcotic 



299 



Lemaire as Anhalonium prismaticum.^^ This 

 fact was recognized in 1845, by Salm-Dyck, 

 who, however, adopted the generic name 

 Anhalovium^^ On account of the laws of 

 priority the generic name Ariocarpus must be 

 retained and its synonym Anhalonium be 

 dropped. 



In the genus Ariocarpus (Anhalonium) the 

 tubercles are very prominent, usually more or 

 less triangular or pyramidal in shape, and 

 imbricating somewhat like the scales of an 

 artichoke. The lower and upper parts are 

 very different, the former comparatively thin 

 and flat, while the upper exposed triangular 

 part is very thick and hard. The lower surface 

 of the tubercles is smooth and keeled, the upper 

 surface is plane, as in Ariocarpus retusus; or 

 convex and irregularly mamillate, with the 

 acuminate apex bearing a woolly pulvillus, as in 

 Ariocarpus fiirfuraceiis; or rhore or less fissured 

 and presenting a warty appearance, as in Ario- 

 carpus fissuraius. One of these species is figured 

 by Lumholtz under the name of hikorisunamt,^' 

 and it is said by him to be more powerful than 

 the common hikori sunami {Ariocarpus will- 

 iamsii), but he offers no evidence that it has 

 narcotic properties. The Indians declare that 

 if you wear this plant as an amulet the bears 

 cannot harm you nor the deer run away from 

 you. The latter superstition is also held in 

 connection with the closely related Ariocarpus 

 kotschubeyanus, commonly called" pezuiia de 

 venado," (fig. 5) probably on account of the 

 close resemblance of its tubercles to the hoof of 

 a deer. 



In the genus Lophophora the tubercles are 

 quite unlike those of Ariocarpus (Anhalonium), 

 being devoid of a differentiated upper part and 

 having the lower part broad and rounded. 

 Instead of being developed into pyramidal or 

 triangular projections the tubercles often 

 coalesce into broad continuous vertical or 

 somewhat spiral ribs (fig. 7), and in young 

 specimens the plant appears almost smooth, 

 with the tubercles separated by shallow im- 

 pressed lines (fig. 9). 



LOPHOPHOR.\ WILLIAMSII 



Lophophora wiUiamsii {Anhalonitim william- 

 sii Lemaire) is a succulent spineless cactus, 

 usually shaped like a turnip or carrot with a 

 depressed-globose or hemispherical head bearing 

 low inconspicuous tubercles and a tapering tap 

 root. The tubercles occur normally in longi- 

 tudinal ribs, but in some forms of the plant 

 they are arranged spirally or irregularly. In 

 the center of each tubercle there is a flower- 

 bearing areole with a dense tuft of erect hairs, 

 from the midst of which the flower issues. 

 When mature the tuft of hairs persists as a 

 pulvillus in the form of a pencil or brush of 

 hairs. Unlike the plants of the genera Echino- 

 cactus and Mamillaria there is no spine-bearing 

 areole. The flower (fig. 6) is very much like 



'•'• vSee Scheidweiler, Bull. Acad. Royale des Sciences de Bruxelles 5:492, 1 pi. 

 Cact. 1, 1839. 



"5 See Anhalonium retusum vSalm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 15. 1845. 



" Scribners Magazine 16:451. 1894. 



18 See Hennings, Gartenflora 37:410, figs. 1-4. 1888. 



that of an Ariocarpus, without a wcll-de'incd 

 calyx, but with the outer floral leaves sepal-like 

 and the inner ones petal-like and rose-tinted, 

 with a darker median line o^ the back of each, 

 giving to it a feather-like appearance. The 

 stamens are numerous, with white filaments 

 and bright yellow anthers; and the style bears 

 four pale yellow stigmas projecting above the 

 mass of stamens. The ovary is devoid of 

 scales, in which respect it differs from that of 

 the genus Echinocactus, and the smooth 

 crimson or rose-colored club-shaped fruit 

 resembles that of a Mamillaria. The plants 

 grow either solitary, or, more frecjuently, in 

 clusters of several from a common base. 



LopJiGphora wiUiamsii is quite varial)le, 

 sometimes its ribs instead of being vertical 

 are more or less diagonal or spiral, and instead 

 of being separated by straight grooves the 

 latter are sinuous; or the tubercles may be 

 irregularly arranged. One form was described 

 by Hennings as a distinct species under the 

 name Anhalonium leivinii;'^^ but the type plant 

 described and figured by him was a boiled up 

 "mescal-button" obtained from Parke, Davis 

 & Co., of Detroit, Michigan, in all probability 

 gathered in the vicinity of Laredo, Texas. In 

 this form the ribs are usually thirteen in 

 number separated by strongly sinuous grooves 

 (fig. 9). Sometimes there are twelve ribs 

 or even as few as nine; while in the typical 

 L. wiUiamsii there are usually eight ribs 

 separated by straight or almost straight 

 lines, or sometimes as many as 10. It has 

 been wrongl}^ asserted that the petals of 

 L. lewinii are yellow: typical plants of this 

 form now blooming in the cactus house of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture 

 (May, 1915) have rose-tinted flowers in no way 

 distinguishable in form or color from those of 

 L. wiUiamsii. Indeed, in specimens collected 

 by Lloyd in Zacatecas typical plants of 

 L. wiUiamsii and L. lewinii are to be found in 

 the same cluster growing from a common base. 

 Another form (fig. 10) departs from the typical 

 L. ivilliamsii even more than the plant figured 

 by Hennings. It has the tubercles more or 

 less irregularly arranged and separated into 

 angular areas by intersecting lines. In young 

 plants the surface is smooth, but in older 

 plants (fig. 8) the tubercles are often promi- 

 nent. At first the writer was inclined to 

 separate this form from both L. wiUiamsii and 

 L. lewinii, but after carefully comparing a 

 number of specimens the three types seem to be 

 connected by intermediate forms, and they 

 cannot, therefore, be specifically distinct. 

 Indeed as they sometimes grow from the same 

 base it would be improper even to designate 

 them as varieties. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 



The general range of the genus 

 Lophophora is from southern Texas 



1838. Lemaire, 



