''Lophophora'' () is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of spineless, button-like

cacti A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

. 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 ...

Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi language, Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. I ...

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 pla ...

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 DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

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 Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

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 Workman Publishing Company, Inc., is an American Publishing companies, publisher of Tradebook, trade books founded by Peter Workman. The company is comprised of either Imprint (trade name), imprints: Workman, Workman Children’s, Workman Calenda ...

, 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 p ...

; 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 A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

'' (

Stanford University Press Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It was among the presses officially ...

, 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