I do not agree with you. Lophophora williamsii is a well known plant. It is similar to L. diffusa, but they can be distinguished. When I lived in L.A., I was somewhat of an expert on cactus and grew many. Among my plants was L. williamsii, and of course it flowered for me. So far as tap root, only plants grown from seed will have that. Most plants are distributed from cuttings which have only adventitious roots. I assure you, that many of those souvenir dish collections sold in the Southwest contained Lophophora williamsii, though I'm sure that none of the Northeasterners who bought those souvenirs ever ate the plants. Regarding its illegality -- it is native to the U.S.; I'm not aware of the feds ever exterminating it. But you're right, it was overcollected, which contributed to its rarity. I no longer live in L.A, and I no longer grow cactus. Dish gardens of cactus are not sold in the Bay Area. David E. ________________________________ Dear david, I am not sure if you got my other message but I can assure that they (Growers) do NOT put peyote cactus plants in dish gardens!The peyote cactus has a drug that acts like LSD on the brain. Unless you are a member of the Native American Church it is a felony to grow and possess the plant. I would have to look it up but it may have been as far back as !930 that it was made illegal by the feds. Just type in Peyote cactus in a search engine. You are in for quite a surprise. You must have confused this cactus with something else in your dish garden. As a grower of cactus for resale I can assure you no one in their right mind would plant this in a dish garden for resale. If you find a dish garden with what you are sure is peyote can you please send me a picture. I am a Botanical Taxonomist and would like to know what you are seeing. By the way peyote grown from seed has a fleshy, carrot like taproot, smooth skin, white flowers and a globular head growing off the taproot. It almost never clumps in nature unless the top has been cut off. Then the head can resprout, sometimes with multiple globular heads. It is rare in nature because of over harvesting for drug use-Russ H. In a message dated 4/5/2013 6:40:26 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, idavide@sbcglobal.net writes: A federal crime to grow peyote? Peyote is typically included in those gift cactus plantings sold throughout the southwest. I shouldn't doubt that many members of this group grow it, although I doubt any of us use it as a narcotic. David E. _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ From: "Jadeboy48@aol.com" <Jadeboy48@aol.com> To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org Sent: Fri, April 5, 2013 11:35:24 PM Subject: Re: [pbs] Peyote??