''Dermatophyllum'' is a genus of three or four species of

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s and small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family,

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

. The genus is native to southwestern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

from western Texas to New Mexico and Arizona in the United States, and south through

Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places *Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mun ...

Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

, and

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...

in northern Mexico. Members of the genus are commonly known as mescalbean, mescal bean, or ''frijolito''. One of the

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s of '' Dermatophyllum secundiflorum'' is Texas mountain laurel, although the name mountain laurel also refers to the very dissimilar and unrelated genus '' Kalmia'' (family Ericaceae) and the name laurel refers generally to plants in the unrelated order Laurales. Although still commonly treated in the genus '' Sophora'', recent genetic evidence has shown that the mescalbeans are only distantly related to the other species of ''Sophora''.

Species

''Dermatophyllum'' comprises the following species: * ''

Dermatophyllum arizonicum ''Dermatophyllum'' is a genus of three or four species of shrubs and small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family, Fabaceae. The genus is native to southwestern North America from western Texas to New Mexico and Arizona in the United ...

'' (

S.Watson Sereno Watson (December 1, 1826 in East Windsor Hill, Connecticut – March 9, 1892 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American botanist. Graduating from Yale in 1847 in Biology, he drifted through various occupations until, in California, he j ...

) Vincent—Arizona mescalbean ( Arizona,

) ** subsp. ''arizonicum'' (S.Watson) Vincent ** subsp. ''formosum'' (Kearney & Peebles) Vincent (Arizona) * ''

Dermatophyllum gypsophilum ''Dermatophyllum gypsophilum'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names Guadalupe Mountain necklacepod,

'' (B.L. Turner & A.M. Powell) Vincent—Guadalupe mescalbean (southern New Mexico, western Texas,

) * ''

Dermatophyllum guadalupense ''Dermatophyllum'' is a genus of three or four species of shrubs and small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family, Fabaceae. The genus is native to southwestern North America from western Texas to New Mexico and Arizona in the United ...

'' (B.L. Turner & A.M. Powell) B.L.Turner * ''

Dermatophyllum juanhintonianum ''Dermatophyllum'' is a genus of three or four species of shrubs and small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family, Fabaceae. The genus is native to southwestern North America from western Texas to New Mexico and Arizona in the United ...

'' (B.L. Turner) B.L. Turner * '' Dermatophyllum secundiflorum'' (

Ortega Ortega is a Spanish surname. A baptismal record in 1570 records a ''de Ortega'' "from the village of Ortega". There were several villages of this name in Spain. The toponym derives from Latin ''urtica'', meaning "nettle". Some of the Ortega spel ...

) Gandhi & Reveal—Texas mescalbean (Texas, New Mexico, Coahuila,

) * ''

Dermatophyllum purpusii ''Dermatophyllum'' is a genus of three or four species of shrubs and small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family, Fabaceae. The genus is native to southwestern North America from western Texas to New Mexico and Arizona in the United ...

'' (Brandegee) Vincent

Description

''Dermatophyllum'' spp. grow to tall, with a trunk up to in diameter, often growing in dense thickets that

grow Grow or GROW may refer to: * Growth (disambiguation), an increase in some quantity over time or a measure of some principal * GROW model, a technique for problem solving or goal setting * Graphical ROMable Object Windows, a windowing system that w ...

from basal shoots. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are evergreen, leathery, long, pinnate with 5-11 oval leaflets, long and broad. The flowers, produced in spring, are fragrant, purple, typical pea-flower in shape, borne in erect or spreading

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s long. The fruit is a hard, woody seedpod long, containing one to six oval, bright red seeds long and in diameter. All parts of the mescalbeans are very

poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

ous, containing the alkaloid cytisine (''not''

mescaline Mescaline or mescalin (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine) is a naturally occurring psychedelic protoalkaloid of the substituted phenethylamine class, known for its hallucinogenic effects comparable to those of LSD and psilocybin. Biological sou ...

, as suggested by the name). Nevertheless, evidence exists of the seeds of the plant having been used in a ritualistic context as a hallucinogen (or more accurately; an ordeal poison) by some Native American peoples. The symptoms of cytisine poisoning are very unpleasant. This has led to speculation that the

peyote cult The Native American Church (NAC), also known as Peyotism and Peyote Religion, is a Native American religion that teaches a combination of traditional Native American beliefs and Christianity, with sacramental use of the entheogen peyote. The re ...

may have developed as a relatively safe substitute for the potentially toxic mescalbean, given the close parallels in performance and divination between the two (including leaders of Plains Indian

peyote The peyote (; ''Lophophora williamsii'' ) is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. ''Peyote'' is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl (), meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root , "to gl ...

rituals wearing a necklace of mescalbeans).

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q56628324, from2=Q2709624 Faboideae Fabaceae genera