Aztekium
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
| Aztekium | ||||||||||||
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The genus Aztekium contains only two species of small globulary cactus. Discovered in 1929, this genus was thought to be monotypical, comprising only Aztekium ritteri, until a second species (A. hintonii) was discovered in Hinton, Mexico in 1992.
This genus is only found in Mexico and is native to the state of Nuevo León. Due to massive habitat destruction and overharvesting, this genus is now almost extinct in the wild. Its name is dedicated to the Aztec people, due to the resemblance between the plant's shape and certain Aztec sculptures.
Description
The plant is small (aroung 2 cm wide), dotted with 9 to 11 ribs, which typically have transverse wrinkles. Its color varies from pale green to grayish-green. The center of the cactus contains a lot of white wool. Flowers are small (less than 1 cm wide), with white petals and pinkish sepals. The plants bear small pinkish berry-like fruits.
Cultivation
These species grow extremely slowly, taking around two years to attain 3 cm of diameter. It usually multiply by seeds. These species are considered a sacred plant for some Mexican tribes.
Active constituents
- N-methyltyramine
- hordenine
- anhalidine
- mescaline
- N,N-3,4-dimethoxy-phenethylamine
- pellotine
- 3-methoxytyramine
