Coryphantha Species
Family
Cactaceae (Cactus Family); Cereeae Tribe, Coryphanthanae Subtribe
Species
The following species have been found to contain β-phenethylamines (often hordenine) with (presumably) psychoactive effects (Howe et al. 1977; Kelley H. et al. 1972):
Coryphantha cornifera (DC.) Lem.
Coryphantha durangensis (Rünge) Br. et R.
Coryphantha echinus (Engelm.) Br. et R. [syn. Coryphantha cornifera var. echinus]
Coryphantha elephantidens (Lem.) Lem.
Coryphantha greenwoodii H. Bravo
Coryphantha ottonis (Pfeif.) Lem.
Coryphantha pectinata (Engelm.) Br. et R.
Coryphantha vivipara var. arizonica
Ethnobotanically relevant species:
Coryphantha compacta (Engelm.) Britt. et Rose (peyote substitute)
Coryphantha macromeris (Engelm.) Britt. et Rose [syn. Lepidocoryphantha macromeris] (peyote substitute)
Coryphantha macromeris var. runyonii
Coryphantha palmeri Britt. et Rose (narcotic)
Coryphantha ramillosa Cutak
Folk Names
Biznaga de piña, donana, falscher peyote, huevos de coyote (Spanish, “the eggs [= testicles] of the coyote”), mulato (for Coryphantha macromeris), stachelkaktus, warzenkakteen
Distribution
Most members of the genus are from Mexico, although some occur from northern Mexico to Texas.
Cultivation
Like all cacti, these species can be grown from seed. Coryphantha thrives best in sandy and clayey soils and requires much sun and much water during the blooming period (but do not keep wet). No water at all should be given during the winter (Hecht 1995, 26*).
Appearance
The most ethnopharmacologically interesting of these cacti, Coryphantha compacta, is a slightly depressed spherical cactus with a maximum diameter of 8 cm. The whitish, 1 to 2 cm long thorns are arranged in a radial pattern. Most Coryphantha species are spherical, heavily thorned ball cacti (Preston-Mafham 1995*) that often develop magnificent, sun-yellow flowers. They can be confused with some species from the genera Ferocactus and Echinocactus, as well as with Mammillaria spp.
Many species in the genus Coryphantha are spherical in shape and regarded as peyote substitutes. (Coryphantha recurva, photographed in Arizona)
Psychoactive Material
—Cactus flesh, fresh or dried
Preparation and Dosage
The thorns must first be removed, after which the aboveground portion is eaten fresh. The dosage is given as eight to twelve cacti (Coryphantha macro-meris) (Gottlieb 1973, 12*).
Ritual Use
Presumably the only ritual or shamanic use of Coryphantha species is (for some of them) as peyote substitutes (see Lophophora williamsii).
Artifacts
None
Medicinal Use
Presumably similar to that of Lophophora williamsii
Constituents
β-phenethylamines (hordenine, normacromerine, calipamine, methyltyramine and derivatives, synephrine, macromerine, metanephrine, tyra-mine) have been found in many Coryphantha species (Bruhn et al. 1975). Most species contain primarily hordenine (Howe et al. 1977; Mata and McLaughlin 1982, 97–100*; Ranieri et al. 1976).
Effects
Coryphantha compacta is “taken by shamans as a potent medicine and greatly feared and respected by the Indians” (Schultes and Hofmann 1992, 67*).
Commercial Forms and Regulations
Many species of the genus are available in cactus shops.
Coryphantha echinus, from northern Mexico, produces psychoactive effects.
Hordenine
“The goddess sits at the top of the round cactus,
our mother, butterfly of obsidian.
Look, there in the springlike fields,
nourished by the hearts of deer,
is our mother, queen of the earth,
adorned with fresh clay and new feathers.
From the four directions of heaven,
because she breaks lances:
she is transformed into a deer.
Across the stony ground
come Xiuhnelli and Mimich,
to see you.”
AZTEC PRAYER
IN LA LITERATURE DE LOS AZTECOS
(A. GARIBA)
Literature
See also the entries for Lophophora williamsii and β-phenethylamines.
Bruhn, J., S. Agurell, and J. Lindgren. 1975. Cactaceae alkaloids. XXI: Phenethylamine alkaloids of Coryphantha species. Acta Pharm. Suecica 12:199.
Howe, R. C., R. L. Ranieri, D. Statz, and J. L.
McLaughlin. 1977. Cactus alkaloids. XXXIV: Hordenine HCl from Coryphantha vivipara var. arizonica. Planta Medica 31:294.
Keller, W. J., and J. L. McLaughlin. 1972. Cactus alkaloids. XIII: Isolation of (–)-normacromerine from Coryphantha macromeris var. runyonii. Journal of Pharmaceutical Science 61:147.
Kelly Hornemann, K. M., J. M. Neal, and J. L. McLaughlin. 1972. Cactus alkaloids XII: ®-phenethylamine alkaloids of the genus Coryphantha. Journal of Pharmaceutical Science 61:41–45.
Ranieri, R. L., J. L. McLaughlin, and G. K. Arp. 1976.
Isolation of β-phenethylamines from Coryphantha greenwoodii. Lloydia 39 (2–3): 172–174.