Spirits Of the Garden: Mind Altering Species In the Backyard

Many species of plant and fungi grow wild across the world, or are cultivated in gardens frequently, with many of the people encountering them completely oblivious to their mind altering qualities. From the common blue trumpets of the morning glory in every other garden to the waxy flesh of san pedro cacti used for landscaping in the Southwest United States and Mexico, many species contain mind altering substances but go unnoticed. This should not be seen as a guide to attempting to harvest these plants, but rather a short and educational guide merely on their existence. This guide includes completely legal plants (such as chamomile and valerian) alongside those of a more regulated quality (like Amanita Muscaria) and as well those that are illegal for consumption but remain in a strange legal gray area (like the opium poppy- which produces both heroin and poppy seeds for bagels.) From the herbal and mundane to the dangerously poisonous, and from the wild growing to the generally cultivated, this booklet attempts to quantify some of the more commonly encountered species. It contains as well photographs of some mentioned species; all photographs are supplied by the author and may be reproduced so long as credit to the text is given.