Mescal bean (Sophora secundiflora) Info
A native of Aztlan, this Venus plant likes heat and dry areas. Its beautiful violet flowers have a strong fragrance of grape Kool-Aid that some love and for others is overpowering. The seeds are part of the rituals of the Peyote Cult and are made into necklaces. They contain a lethal alkaloid related to nicotine and are for decoration only.  Despite their extreme poisonousness, this is a widely grown tree and is considered of low toxicity because the very hard seeds have to be chewed up for the alkaloid to be released in lethal quantities.  This is a good example of how we can get along fine with a dangerous plant if we respect it--and of how a plant can protect itself from predation without indiscriminately killing. This tree has nothing to do with mescaline, by the way. Top

How to grow it: Nick seeds or file a small spot off the end. Soak the nicked seeds for 12 hours in hot water (do not use a thermos used for eating--plastic absorbs toxins). This plant grows 6-12 feet tall outside and usually produces multiple trunks, which look pretty impressive, but it can be kept in a pot, because it grows quite slowly. It likes alkaline soil, such as occurs in the desert, Texas, and Florida, and will grow amongst granite slabs. General growing info Top

Uses in Witchcraft & Magic:

Peyote Cult Rituals
Venus Plant

© 2004, 2014 Harold A. Roth; No reproduction without permission