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Peruvian Torch Cactus

Cacti

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The Peruvian Torch Cactus (Echinopsis peruviana) is a fast-growing, mescaline-bearing columnar cactus native to the Andean highlands of Peru and Ecuador, closely related botanically and pharmacologically to San Pedro (Echinopsis pachanoi). Andean folk healers (curanderos) have used it in divinatory and healing ceremonies in a tradition continuous with San Pedro use, and its faster growth has made it an increasingly common cultivated source of the same entheogenic alkaloid in contemporary practice.

Facts
Origins
Botanical Identification
Echinopsis peruviana, family Cactaceae 2
Origin of the Name
The genus name Echinopsis comes from Greek echinos, hedgehog or sea urchin, and opsis, appearance, for its spiny columnar form; the species name peruviana simply names its Andean home in Peru. 3
Origin Region
Andean Peru and Ecuador 4
Attributions
Traditional Ailments
In a tradition continuous with San Pedro, Andean curanderos use it to diagnose and remove dano, harm believed sent by another person, and to treat conditions that have resisted other treatment. 1
Status
Legal Status
Mescaline is a controlled substance in the United States and many other countries; cultivation of the cactus itself is generally not restricted, mirroring the legal treatment of San Pedro 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Ecuador, Countries

This source names Ecuador directly: "to the Andean highlands of Peru and Ecuador, closely related botanically and pharmacologically to San Pedro (Echinopsis pachanoi)."

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Peru, Countries

This source names Peru directly: "The Peruvian Torch Cactus (Echinopsis peruviana) is a fast-growing, mescaline-bearing columnar cactus native to the Andean highlands of Peru and Ecuador, closely related botanically and..."

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Related To

San Pedro Cactus, Plants
Sources
1. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications
Christian Ratsch, Park Street Press, 2005View the Source
2. Plants of the World Online
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Royal Botanic Gardens, KewView the Source
3. The Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edition
Oxford University Press, Oxford University PressView the Source
4. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005s.v. Andean entheogens; San Pedro and related cactiView the Source
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