San Pedro Macho, Part II
Echinopsis peruviana
Continuing my outsourced blogging from earlier today, from wikipedia:
Some uses for Echinopsis peruviana include:[1]
- Sore throat: Decoction of the stem.
- Antirheumatic: The stem is cut, soaked for a day and the next day used to wash the area of pain with this mucilage water.
- Vetrinarial: For getting rid of pig parasites, the cactus stem is peeled, smashed and let to soak in water overnight. It is then mixed with food given to the animal.
- Adherent in paints: The peeled stems are beaten and left to stand in water, filtrate is added to minerals such as lime or gypsum. The result is a kind of gum for paint.
- Wood: The dried stalks are very resistant to moths. The dried stalks are used to make scales and in the construction of houses.
Good to know. And still there’s more, on the ethnobotanical qualities of the plant:
It contains a number of psychoactive alkaloids, in particular the well-studied chemical mescaline, which it sometimes contains at higher levels than those of Echinopsis pachanoi (San Pedro cactus), although not as high as Lophophora williamsii (Peyote).
