Shape of my Peyote cactus

[Thanatos]

Since I don't have a lot of experience with growing Cacti, I post my question here:

A few years ago, I bouth a San Pedro and a Peyote cactus, and since then I give them occasional water en put them on a shelf in my room, not far away from the window so they have plenty of light. They grow steadily, especialy in the summer. The peyote even flowered in the summer.
Then I moved to another apartment, in which the sun is shining almost all day through one of the windows, so I put the cacti in front of that window. After two weeks I discovered a patch of light-brown discoloration on the Peyote, and I am convinced it is burned from the sun. So immediately I removed the cacti from the window.
Then, after a few weeks, I noticed that this Peyote is still OK, but has changed its shape from a round ball-form to a cone-form. You can see the shape on the picture.

Is there someone who knows if this is normal? Or is this a response from the plant to the stress I put him through? As far as I know a Peyote must have the shape of a ball.

 

[Thanatos]

The picture was not visible in my post, so here it is again:

 

[Entheonaut]

What the...? I haven't seen that form before, so I can't tell anything about it. And about the sunburns... I doubt a cactus gets burned by the sunlight. Most cacti grow in the hotter places on earth.

 

[Dr. Leospace]

Huh, haven't seen this before :? Looks more like a cacti that has too less sun!?

Although cacti can burn their skin just like humans. If the cactus is not used to sunlight and you put them in direct sunlight, the skin can get burned. I have a big San pedro which still grows nice, but the skin is burned and looks brown.

 

[Entheonaut]

It looks like your Peyote thinks he's a San Pedro

 

[Thanatos]

Yeah, it looks like it is confused about it´s identity. This is really stange isn´t it?

The cacti were healthy before, so they had enough light. But it was not burned by the sunlight directly (since the cacti use to grow in the desert, they can cope with a lot of sunlight). No, it seemed to be on the spot were the sunlight reflected on the edge of the container the cactus was in, so I guess the temperature was locally to high for the skin.

Poor Peyote, I hope it isn´t getting me back for that when I consume them...

 

[Brewmaster]

I've seen some odd shaped peyoties but nothing quite like that. No plant is above and beyond the occasional birth-defect/ mutation/ deformation.

That thing looks fucking sweet. Don't you dare eat him!

 

[Rutger]

It looks like this Peyote stretched out for light when it was younger but from the looks of it he did get some light after all because its looking ok now.

 

[Entheonaut]

I wonder if it keeps growing like that(San Pedro-Style) would it have an influence on the amount of mescaline the cactus contains? More cactus = more mescaline? Or do you think, more cactus = same amount of mescaline, just less concentrated?

I'd say just let it grow for a while and keep an eye on it... If the "mutation" keeps on growing, keep us up to date

 

[MindAstronaut]

Dude you got a fucking rare peyote take good care of him

 

[Thanatos]

I take good care of him for sure. I feel kinda guelty about this, so I treat him with extra care.

I didn't fully realize how special he was till I saw the reactions on this forum.

Somehow this phenotype should be programmed in his genes. So I wonder what he is going to do next. Maybe it will reform it's round shape again. I keep you guy's informed.

I have no idea if it will contain more mescalin. It might be that he invested all it's energy in reforming and recovering. Or might it be that he is defending himself with more mescalin? (since this substance is for protection in the cactus).
I am afraid it is the first option.

And no, I won't eat him.

Thank you all for the replies so far!!!

 

[Meduzz]

if it's a genetic mutation, than the mescalin concentration should remain normal. 2 mutations in one organism would be too much of a coincidence. and i don't think he will grow to a normal shape anymore.
Maybe you can make a cutting and see if the new (genetical identical) peyote has the same fenotype to make sure it's not just a disease.

 

[Brewmaster]

Hey bro, how positive ary you that this cactus is in fact, a peyote? I'm certainly not trying to shit on your cactus but it looks like it could be lophophora diffusa, which does take on some weird growth patterns from time to time.

http://search.msn.com/images/results.as ... usa_04.jpg

The lines or creases in a peyote are almost always very neat and straight while diffusa's lines may criss-cross and form diamond patterns.

 

[Thanatos]

I bought this cactus at Azarius, so I think it is pretty safe to say it is a Peyote.
But otherwise, it would be very logic to doubt it's species.
And, it looked for about 4 years like a peyote, perfectly like the pictures I have seen. It started to change only after my stupid mistake.
So the chance it is another species, I consider very small. The chance it is a mutation that causes this, is even smaller I think.

Very nice pics on that link of you, too bad I can't read the language. I wish I had a few of those cacti. They would look nice in my apartment.

 

[scamie]

Maybe a turbinicarpus species maybe turbinicarpus lophophorides

 

[Goran.Hrsak]

This is classical piece of Peyote crestate. Just like one Pedro in Azarius shop.

 

[Soulcatcher]

Hi there,

I came across some more of these peyo-pedro's on another forum
(http://www.entheogen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8270 , copied the images from there)
Consensus seems to be that it is just a peyote stretching out for light. None the less it is pretty cool Take good care of it!

Greets

 

[Thanatos]

It seems I am not the only one with a cactus like this. This pictures indeed look the same.
But I can not give them more light than I already do.
I will place them in another bowl next month, maybe it will effect it's shape.

Thanks again for all your help!

 

[ProStoner]

u gotta take good care of that one
its beautifull