Mammillaria heyderii has provided some early shelter for a
    Lophophora williamsii growing east of Rio Grande City, Texas.





    Flora associated with the Lophophora species
    The accompanying
    images are from
    CCI's field work
    unless an archival
    source is noted.

      In Texas, Lophophora williamsii occurs within the biotic zones of  the Tamaulipan thornscrub and the Chihuahuan Desert.


        Tamaulipan thornscrub:
    Common vegetation in the Tamaulipan Brushland
    (AKA "chaparral" or "Tamaulipan thornscrub") includes:



    Acacia amentacea

    (i.e. A. rigidula)
    "black-brush acacia"


    Castela texana

    "amargoso"
     



    Celtis pallida

    "granjeno"
    or "desert hackberry"



    Condalia obovata

    "brazil"



    Karwinskia humboldtiana

    "coyotillo"
     



    Larrea tridentata

    "gobernadora"
    or "creosote Bush"



    Leucophyllum frutescens

    "cenizo"
    or "Texas sage"



    Guaiacum
    (Porlieria) angustifolia

    "guayacan"
     


    Prosopis juliflora

    "mesquite"



       Any of which could serve as a nurse plant (Almost all images above are actual instances of co-occurrence with Lophophora williamsii).

    We largely drew this information from Anderson 1980 and from Morgan 1983.







    Typical Lophophora williamsii williamsii habitat in Starr County, Texas


      
      Flora associated with
    Lophophora williamsii williamsii

    in the

    Tamaulipan Thornscrub
    of South Texas

    Click on the link above to take a look at
    the progress on this actively ongoing project





        Chihuahuan Desert:

      Many plants in the Chihuahuan Desert are also components of the Tamaulipan thornscrub, including, in small part, Acacia berlandieri, Acacia rigidula, Castela erecta texana, Celtis pallida, Echinocactus texensis, Echinocereus enneacanthus, Larrea tridentata, Leucophyllum frutescens, Lippia graveolens, Jatropha dioica, Koeberlinia spinosa, Mammillaria heyderii, Opuntia engelmannii, Opuntia leptocaulis, Porlieria angustifolia, Prosopis glandulosa, Schaeferia cuneifolia, and Viguiera stenoloba.

    Edward Anderson 1980 The Divine Cactus pages 149-151 presented the following plants as 
    associated with Chihuahuan Desert peyote with a 'relative frequency of co-occurrence':




    Larrea tridentata


    "gobernadora"
    or "creosote bush"

    over 75%

      

     


    Jatropha dioica


    "leather plant"


    70%



     


    Prosopis laevigata

    "mesquite"


    70%



     


    Opuntia leptocaulis


    "tasajillo"
    or "pencil cactus"

    70%



     



    Mammillaria
    spp.



    "fish-hook cactus"
    "nipple cactus"
    "pin cushion cactus"

    50%




     


    Echinocactus
    horizonthalonius


    "eagle's claw cactus"



    50%

       Commonly abundant in
    vicinity of L. williamsii;
    growing together rarely.

    Flourensia cernua

    Flourensia cernua



    "tarbush"



    50%




     


    Agave lechuguilla



    "lechuguilla"



    50%






    Coryphantha
    spp.




    40%




    Acacia spp.

    "acacia"

    40%

     


    Condalia spp.

    "lotebush"

    40%

     


    Neolloydia
    spp.



    40%





    Euphorbia antisyphilitica



    "candelilla"

    less than 40%

     


    Tiquilia
    canescens
    (Coldenia canescens)

    "woolly crinklemat"

    less than 40%



    Koeberlinia spinosa



    "crucifixion thorn"

    less than 40%

    Yucca filifera

    Yucca filifera



    "yucca"

    40%
     



    Hamatocactus spp.

    40%


       

    *The percentages given by Anderson were obtained as the ratio of the number of peyote sites where Anderson found that particular plant species to occur compared to the total number of peyote sites that he investigated in his 1960 dissertation. (That ratio was converted to a percentage.)
       The majority of these (~10) sites were Chihuahuan Desert populations and most, but not all, of them were L. williamsii.



    Specific names used by Anderson and by Morgan are largely preserved above.
    These diverge in parts from the names employed in our associated plants documentation project.


     

    Typical Lophophora williamsii echinata habitat in Presidio County, Texas
     



    Flora associated with
    Lophophora williamsii echinata
    in the

    Chihuahuan Desert
    of West Texas

    Click on the link above to take a look at the progress on this actively ongoing project



       This photo documentation of plants associated with Lophophora is still in mid-assembly and has much work left to do.
      In the course of field work 2009-present day, a total of seven sites containing Lophophora populations have been explored with this project in mind using kt's camera; three of those were in Tamaulipan thornscrub and four in the Chihuahuan Desert. Those form the present basis of this project. Dr. Terry has examined many more populations in Texas and Mexico that are not presently a part of this floristic assessment.
      At all of those sites just mentioned there were at least one Acacia species, at least one Condalia species, some nature of at least one crust community, an Echinocactus species, at least one Echinocereus species, Jatropha dioica, Koeberlinia spinosa, at least one Leucophyllum species, assorted lichens, a Mammillaria species, at least one Opuntia species, Opuntia leptocaulis and at least one Yucca species.
      Castela texana, a Coryphantha, an Ephedra, Guaiacum, a Prosopis, Schaeferia, a Tiquilia, a Thymophylla and a Viguiera were observed at all but one site each and may possibly have been overlooked at the exceptions mentioned.
      Agave lechuguilla, Euphorbia antisyphilitica, Larrea tridentata and a Mimosa species were present at all four West Texas sites. Karwinskia humboldtiana was present at all South Texas sites that included Lophophora as well as on all three additional properties we visited in South Texas that lacked Lophophora. 
      All of the plants mentioned also grow many places lacking any Lophophora.



       México

    The majority of Lophophora's range is in México.



    Lophophora williamsii habitat in Nuevo León.
    Ferocactus pilosus is in the center.


    Flora associated with
    the Lophophora species
    in México

    This project has barely begun






                                                Viewers might also be interested in:

    Flora associated with Astrophytum asterias

    Wild cacti in their youth







    Contents ©
    All images are © copyrighted by the photographers and/or the CCI and are used with permission.
    Reproduction is forbidden without prior written consent





    Cactus Conservation Institute