Word: alkaloid
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Mescaline is an alkaloid produced by the peyote cactus which is native to the Rio Grande regions of Mexico and Texas. As peyote, this curious compound has been used for many years; indeed, the Aztecs worshipped this plant as the chief of three great deities. More recently, the ingestion of peyote for its drug effect has spread among Indians of Mexico and the United States. There is a Christian sect (The Native American Church) based on sacramental use of peyote wafers, and there is also an impressive black market that ships quantities of the cactus to American students, beatniks...
...produce other new flower strains, Burpee technicians have used X rays to alter the genes of calendula seeds, created a large double-petaled variety. They have treated seeds with colchicine. a chromosome-multiplying alkaloid that increases a plant's size and changes its characteristics. Colchicine has made possible giant marigolds and snapdragons, and fluffy, ruffled zinnias...