Peyote is a cactus, Lophophora williamsii, native to Mexico and the southwestern United States. It is botanically unrelated to mushrooms, which are fungi. Peyote contains mescaline; psilocybin mushrooms contain psilocybin. Two different plant kingdoms, two different compounds, two different traditions. Radiocarbon-dated archaeological evidence places peyote use at approximately 5,700 years ago (El-Seedi et al., 2005), making it one of the most precisely documented ancient psychoactive traditions in the world.
