Ace

Here is a basic identification guide for those who are still new to the Lophophora genus. Enjoy and feel free to comment. Please note, my guide is based upon the Kaktusy - Lophophora Coulter edition (2005), and contains excerpts from this handbook. There is much controversy regarding the genus and classifications of sub species, but I feel this is by far the most efficient and up to date at this point in time. OVERVIEW Firstly, there are four natural species within the Lophophora genus: - L. williamsii - L. diffusa - L. fricii - L. koehresii There is also one cultivar, not found in the wild: - L. jourdaniana And there is recent speculation (June 2008) about a new, miniature species, found in the wild and flowers when the crown is around 15mm diameter (see here for further information): - L. alberto-vojtechii SECTIONS Kaktusy propose that the genus should be broken into the following two sections (and numerous reasons are given for this proposition, including alkaloid composition, habitat, hybridisation compatibility and macroscopic appearance): - Diffusae (containing L. diffusa, L. fricii and L. koehresii) - Lophophora (containing L. williamsii) Section Diffusae information excerpted from Kaktusy: Section Lophophora information excerpted from Kaktusy: SPECIES L. williamsii is by far the most common species, stretching across most of the Lophophora habitat. This is commonly known as peyote, and contains various psychoactive compounds, the main and most active being mescaline. L. williamsii is also one of the easiest to identify. The distinctive ribbing in older specimens is usually vertical or spiralling, with most plants starting with five ribs and developing up to thirteen with maturity. Flowers are pale pink with shorter petals than the other sub species. All sub species will clump with age (though some individual plants tend to stay singular for their lifetimes), but L. williamsii forma caespitosa (seen in the central photo below) tends to pup at a very young age and can carpet a large area in its lifetime. L. williamsii characteristics information excerpted from Kaktusy (page 32): L. diffusa is a far rarer species named after its rib habit. It has diffuse ribs (meaning they are not clean-cut ribs as found in the L. williamsii sub species) which tend to have a somewhat 'pinecone'-like appearance with the rib pattern. The epidermis (skin) is a lighter green, bordering on a yellowish tinge. Flowers are very similar to that of L. williamsii, but can have a yellow/green/white colouring. The main compound found in L. diffusa is pellotine and mescaline levels are very low. L. diffusa characteristics information excerpted from Kaktusy (page 14): L. fricii has a rib structure very much like that of L. diffusa, but with an epidermis colour more like that of L. williamsii (darker green than L. diffusa). Flowers are very bright pink and are the main distinguishing point from L. diffusa. L. fricii characteristics information excerpted from Kaktusy (page 26): L. koehresii is supposedly the smallest of the genus (or at least was, until the recent speculation about L. alberto-vojtechii), with a growth habit very similar to that of L. diffusa. Flowers are light pink, but have much longer petals with pointed tips. L. koehresii characteristics information excerpted from Kaktusy (page 20): L. jourdaniana is thought to have been a cross breed between a Lophophora and possibly Turbinicarpus. It is only found in human cultivation, and as such is classed as a cultivar. It is the only sub species to have small spines (others only have tufts of wool at each areole, but may have very small spines at a young age). Flowers are a dark magenta-pink. This species is very rare and is not thought to be found in Australia at this point in time. CONCLUSION I guess all in all, the easiest way to ID the Lophophora species is that L. williamsii has very distinct ribs, while the other species are hard to tell apart without a flower. It might also be noted that there is visible difference between the sub species in the seedling stage - the cotyledons (seed leaves) tend to be slightly differently shaped, though L. diffusa, fricii and koehresii are all very similar (as are the mature plants) - which can give you a bit of a clue when differentiating between the sub species, but I wont go into that now. REFERENCES All pics were borrowed from here without permission. Please have a look there for more brilliant photos of the Lophophora genus and almost every other within the Cactacae. Information about the Kaktusy 2005/2 Genus Lophophora Coulter. booklet can be found here. Cheers, Ace Updated (March 2009) to include detailed excerpt from Kaktusy.

Hello all, I was just thinking this would be a great idea for a thread. I know there are a few good books available online in the PDF format, but they can be very tricky to find. So this thread can be for links to sites with direct downloads or, preferably just put the PDFs on here (wait, that might not work the way I'm thinking...). So if you have any files that you wouldnt mind sharing, would it be possible to post them on here as links, or at least a link to the site that you downloaded them from? For example, I have seen a copy of Food of the Gods by T. McKenna. Does anyone (Torsten or Mods, in perticular), know if its possible to upload a direct link to it on this thread? If so, how? Sorry if this is a stupid idea - Mods please delete if this is illegal/stupid or it simply wont work... Thank you all in advance. I will post one or two if I am able to do so. Cheers Ace

High guys and gals, Just wondering if you could provide some general comments to the following cacti problems. Any additions would be gratefully taken on board! Etiolation/bowling pin appearance - Caused by low levels of light/possibly a nute deficiency. Also common as regular growth in top cut cuttings. General yellowing of all growth - Nute deficiency or over/under watering Thin rib structure - under watering Black spots/blotches on newer growth - some sort of disease or damaged caused to the plant Softening of tissue - overwatering and possibly rot Very little to no growth - could be a lack of root space, low levels of light, nute deficiency or not in growing season Can anyone help add to the list? The aim of this thread is to make an easy to read list for newbs and to avoid trolling through threads. Cheers Ace

High Guys and Gals, Just had a gander over at the nook and found some awesome TBM pics and variants. I was wondering if this type has been cultivated in Aus before, and if so, where the hell would one be found? Its called 'Hulks Dick' for obvious reasons *Pics not mine, used without permission, can be found at the nook. Please feel free to make this a thread for all TBM pics and info, perticularly on wierd variants -Ace

Wow. What more can you say? Your ability to capture nature's most quirky organisms is amazing.

Absolutely gorgeous! That's the first peres flower I've ever seen. And the buds are awesome! Thanks for sharing.

Update: All books/items sold except Turds Ashtray The Turds 'Shitfaced' Ashtray, as new | $20 + $10 postage (photo) Please contact via PM.

And I've just seen your second post after typing my last - thank christ that was a joke, I'm here freaking out that I've let an old mate down without realising it or he had me confused! Ya bastard hahaha

Ok, not sure what just happened, pls forget the above post re Naja Naja - it seems to have disappeared in the time that I've spent typing the above post.

Woah Naja, I hope that was tongue in cheek? I know there's been some average traders here lately and you are right that I've been away from the forums for some time, but I've never let anyone down with a trade. And I can assure you I've never dealt with anyone here in sums over the $50 mark. If you were serious, I'm more than happy to chat via PM, but I think you have me mistaken for someone else? Those who have sent PMs, I will respond shortly on a first in basis. At this stage, all items are sold pending payment.

It appears to be a cross between a goat's horn, a large intestine and a dildo. Go on, eat it!

Truffles Australis Have a look there for a good start. Also check out their guides to creating a truffle orchard. It looks like a pretty epic task but I imagine the pay off would more than compensate!

I totally love the panorama Lord Mayo. BTW the ACT has been sprouting plenty of subs for around a month now. Some great specimens to be seen, but mostly solitary and rarely clustering. Finding a raft shaped cluster like that is awesome and a great photo opportunity.

Lithops sp. Great little succulents that resemble rocks and are often called 'living stones'. Mutant, stunning collection!

Absolutely stunning. Textbook specimens. If they are not P. semilanceata, I'll eat my favourite hat. As a matter of fact, I'd eat a stack of hats.

The easiest to recognise would probably be Saffron Milkcaps (Lactarius deliciosus). I had a feed of them (with olive oil, garlic, parsley and cream) on crusty bread for brekky. Orgasmic. FYI, I just collated the following lists from 'Mushroom' by Johnny Acton & Nick Sandler. This is a book from the UK, so some may not apply, however I can confirm the agaricus, lactarius and also (not included) is of course Suillus granulatus (ringless Slippery Jack). Got a box of Slipperies in the fridge and am yet to try them. I can also confirm the death cap in Oz - I've come across quite a few of these this year (first season to id them). Edibles of Autumn: - Agaricus campestris (field mushroom) - Amanita caesarea (Caesar's mushroom) - Armillaria mellea (honey fungus) - Boletus edulis (cep, porchini, penny bun) - Cantharellus cibarius (chanterelle) - Coprinus comatus (shaggy ink cap) - Craterellus comucopioides (horn of plenty) - Hydnum repandum (hedgehog fungus) - Lactarius deliciosus (saffies) - Lepista nuda (wood blewit) - Macrolepiota procera (parasol mushroom) - Sparassis crispa (cauliflower fungus) DEADLY Poisonous mushrooms of Autumn: - Amanita phalloides (death cap) - Amanita virosa (destroying angel)

Fuck, you and me both. I stand by it - ACA and TT should be removed from television in their entirety. Absolute trash that somehow gets labelled as 'journalism'.

Billions wasted on 'revolving door' jail system I was discussing this with my partner the other day and low and behold, here it is in the news. All we need to do is have a look at what our prison model is based on - the dismal failure that is the USA's system. Given the fact that the reoffending rates are so phenominally high, is it time to look at an overhaul of the current prison model? If you could change the current system, how would you go about implementing a more effective system? Thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

FYI, for any budding edible hunters looking for a good recipe: The Edible Mushroom Book. And yep, the mushroom in Post 1 is a saffron milk cap.

Hey guys and gals, This is an article from a Nexus Magazine I was lucky enough to pick up a couple years ago called Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark written by Lawrence Gardner: http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/lostark.html Luckily it was put on the website for all to view for free. It states some very amazing things about a powder that was found in recent times and has since been 'thoroughly researched' and been found to have been used in ancient times. Please take a couple mins to read and let me know what you think. Even if its complete crap, its got some interesting things throughout and its really quite facinating on the whole. As far as I remember (I havent read it for some time now), this powder has been linked to the Ark of the Covenant, and appears to have powers of Superconductivity, Levitation and Hyper-Dimentional Space Travel. If this hasnt grabbed your attention, I'd be very suprised lol. As quoted from the link: 'Recent findings about the exotic properties of monatomic gold and the platinum group metals are rediscoveries of an advanced science understood or at least known by the ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Israelite priests' Please post your thoughts on this article - it would be great to see what people think of it. There are also a few other articles on the Nexus Magazine site that might appeal to you too. p.s. No, it doesnt really have anything to do with the stuff generally talked about here, but I thought a few of you might appreciate an interesting read nonetheless

Sorry to hear Harry, it couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke I agree with WT - take things easy and try to keep your head as clear as possible before making big decisions. Always keep in mind the most important person of all, your little dude. Thinking of you both, Ace.

First death linked to Avatar Man that was a great flick. Very unoriginal (ferngully eat your heart out), but man was it fantastic. You can see why people are depressed about our reality when you live in such a wonderful landscape for those few hours. The death that was blamed on Avatar (linked just above) is nothing more than sensationalism trying its best to grab a reader, but interesting to see the effect of these sort of 3D things. One in a million no doubt. Looking forward to the day that 3D flicks are the norm and available for the home theatre!

Take the cavendish (common) banana for example. Every plant cultivated today is a clone of one another, yet they still grow with vigour. To be honest, I haven't done that much reading on it aside from in relation to mycology and certain plants. There is much talk of senescence in relation to mushroom cultures, cannabis and salvia (salvia in particular is often the target plant in senescence discussions because it is very rarely grown from seed). I don't know much about mass-farming though, only speaking of what I've stumbled across. It may be that certain organisms are more commonly affected by it? I would imagine it taking many, many cloned 'generations' before there would do anything noticable. Kinda like taking a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy ad infinitum. Theoretically, the genes begin to deteriorate in much the same way. It is quite an interesting area of genetic science. I often wonder how things like PC pachanoi would be affected by it. It is one of the most common ornamental cacti that is almost always started from cuttings. Will senescence affect it eventually? Edit: i don't want to see you copy & paste this into that thread you linked now ok tut tut tut which gets me wondering just how many forums you have this conversation going in... looking for answers so you can look smart in the next forum? It's annoying as hell, isn't it? The cutnpaste king strikes again. I'm sure all those other forums all think he's a pain in the butt too