Trichocereus pachanoi) is a fast-growing columnar cactus native to the Andes Mountains of Peru between 2000–3000 m in altitude. It is also found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador, and it is cultivated in other parts of the world. Uses for it include traditional medicine and traditional veterinary medicine, and it is widely grown as an ornamental cactus. It has been used for healing and religious divination in the Andes Mountains region for over 3000 years. It is sometimes confused wi ...(more)
The Peruvian Torch (Trichocereus peruvianus) grows high in the Andean mountain deserts of Peru and Ecuador and is similar to the San Pedro cactus (Trichocereus pachanoi) which is found in the same region. The human use of the cactus dates back thousands of years to the northern coast of Peru and the monks of a pre-Inca culture known as Chavín (900 BC to 200 BC). They prepared a brew called "achuma", "huachuma" or "cimora" which was used during ritualistic ceremonies to diagnose the spiritual ...(more)