''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
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 Gree ...
. Its area range covers southern through northeastern and north-central
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
to
Querétaro
Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities. Its cap ...
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 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
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. T ...
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
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' (
Timber Press, 2001) , pp. 396–397
*
Edward F. Anderson, ''
Peyote: The Divine Cactus'' (
University of Arizona Press; 2nd edition, 1996)
*
Lyman Benson, ''
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 Gre ...
'' (
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 LophophoraNotes on growing Lophophoralophophora collection video
{{Authority control
Cactoideae genera