Echinopsis scopulicola

Echinopsis scopulicola
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Core eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Subfamily: Cactoideae
Tribe: Trichocereeae
Genus: Echinopsis
Species: E. scopulicola
Binomial name
Echinopsis scopulicola
(F.Ritter) Mottram

Echinopsis scopulicola is a type of cactus native to Bolivia, which contains psychedelic compounds. Many claim this species contains mescaline, which was until recently unconfirmed due to the lack of official research, but a study published in September 2010 by the International Society for Ethnopharmacology placed it in the top third of the results for their samples. This included 14 taxa/cultivars of the subgenus Trichocereus of the genus Echinopsis, with Scopulicola noted to contain 0.82% mescaline/dry weight in the outer green layer.

Names

This cactus is synonymous with Trichocereus scopulicola, and its scientific name is Echinopsis scopulicola.

Plant Description

This cactus grows 3–4 meters tall, and 8–10 cm in diameter, and is also noted for its unusually short spines. It readily forms hybrids with another Bolivian species, Trichocereus bridgesii.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/17/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.