''Lophophora'' () is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of spineless, button-like cacti. Its area range covers southern through northeastern and north-central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to Querétaro in central Mexico. The species are extremely slow growing, sometimes taking up to thirty years to reach flowering age (at the size of about a golf ball, excluding the root) in the wild. Cultivated specimens grow considerably faster, usually taking between three and ten years to reach from seedling to mature flowering adult. The slow rate of reproduction and

over-harvesting Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term ap ...

by collectors render the species under threat in the wild.

Taxonomy

''Lophophora'' means "crest-bearing", referring to the tufts of

trichome Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a p ...

s that adorn each

tubercle In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection ...

. ''Lophophora'' has been reported to have two species, '' L. diffusa'' and '' L. williamsii''. Another three species have been proposed: ''L. fricii'', ''L. koehresii'', and ''L. alberto-vojtechii''. Recent DNA sequencing studies (Butterworth et al. 2002) have shown that ''L. diffusa'' and ''L. williamsii'' indeed are distinct species. DNA evidence from the alleged species ''L. fricii'' and ''L. koehresii'' would allow for more accurate classification.C. A. Butterworth & J. H. Cota-Sanchez, & R. S. Wallace (2002), ”Molecular systematics of Tribe Cacteae (Cactaceae: Cactoideae): A phylogeny based on rpl16 intron sequence variation”, ''Systematic Botany'' ''27'' (2), 257-270.

Species

, Plants of the World Online accepted four species:

Ethnobotany

''Lophophora'' species easily adapt to cultivation, requiring warm conditions and a free-draining substrate, and to be kept dry in winter.

References

* Edward F. Anderson, '' The Cactus Family'' ( Timber Press, 2001) , pp. 396–397 * Edward F. Anderson, '' Peyote: The Divine Cactus'' (

University of Arizona Press The University of Arizona Press, a publishing house founded in 1959 as a department of the University of Arizona, is a nonprofit publisher of scholarly and regional books. As a delegate of the University of Arizona to the larger world, the Press ...

; 2nd edition, 1996) *

Lyman Benson Lyman may refer to: Places Ukraine * Lyman, Ukraine United States * Lyman, Iowa * Lyman, Maine * Lyman, Mississippi * Lyman, Nebraska * Lyman, New Hampshire * Lyman, Oklahoma * Lyman, South Carolina * Lyman, South Dakota * Lyman County, South Da ...

, '' Cacti of the United States and Canada'' ( Stanford University Press, 1983) , pp. 680–683 * John M. Coulter,
Preliminary revision of the North American species of Cactus, Anhalonium, and Lophophora
' (Contributions from the U. S. National Herbarium 3(2), 1894) * Rudolf Grym, '' Rod/Die Gattung Lophophora'' (Vydavateľstvo Igor Dráb, 1997)

External links

Habitat photos of Lophophora

Notes on growing Lophophora

lophophora collection video
{{Authority control Cactoideae genera