Mescaline Mexico. Europeans noted use of peyote in Native American religious ceremonies upon early contact, notably by the Huichols in Mexico. Other mescaline-containing cacti such as the San Pedro have a long history of use in South America, from Peru to Ecuador. In traditional peyote preparations, the top of the cactus is cut off, leaving the large tap root along with a ring of green photosynthesizing area to grow new heads. These heads are then dried to make disc-shaped buttons. Buttons are chewed to produce the effects or soaked in water to drink. However, the taste of the cactus is bitter,
Gastonia (plant) Gastonia (plant) Gastonia is a formerly accepted genus of flowering plants in the ivy and ginseng family, Araliaceae. It had been known as an unnatural group, but was recognized as late as 2010, when its nine species were distributed to four different subgenera of the large genus "Polyscias". Because the genus "Gastonia" is now obsolete, its species are herein referred to by their names in "Polyscias". The species that constituted "Gastonia" are mostly island endemics, with Madagascar and New Guinea being the largest land masses on which any of them naturally occur. "Gastonia" had a disjunct distribution, with three species