Dermatophyllum secundiflorum (Ortega) Gandhi & Reveal - syn.Calia secundiflora (Ortega) Yakovlev; Sophora secundiflora (Ortega) Lag. - Fabaceae
mescal bean, Texas mountain laurel, Meskalbohne

Evergreen shrub or small tree, native to Mexico and Texas.

„The seeds of Sophora secundiflora (mescalbeans) have been purported to have hallucinogenic activity because of their past use in certain Native American ceremonies during which visions were experienced by those consuming the seeds. Chemical analysis of mescalbeans revealed the absence of detectable amounts of tryptamine derivatives; however, two additional quinolizidine alkaloids, epi-lupinine and delta5-dehydrolupanine, were isolated. Thus far, seven quinolizidine alkaloids have been detected in mescalbeans and quantitation of these constituents showed that the major alkaloid present is cytisine (0.25%). The toxicity of mescalbeans in mice (oral LD50 1.4 g/kg) is only partially attributable to the known alkaloid content. In addition, the ethnobotanical reports regarding the Native American use of mescalbeans were reviewed. No unequivocal evidence was found in this study to support the proposal that mescalbeans are hallucinogenic.“
[An investigation of Sophora secundiflora seeds (Mescalbeans)., Hatfield, G.M., Valdes, L.J., Keller, W.J., Merrill, W.L., Jones, V.H., Lloydia, Vol.40(4), 1976, 374-383]

cytisine (R=H), N-methyl cytisine (R=CH3)

„The ecology and quinolizidine alkaloid chemistry of Calia secundiflora (Ortega) Yakovlev growing at two sites in Mexico were compared… Seeds of C. secundiflora from each site accumulated a similar range of quinolizidine alkaloids, but the profile of alkaloids in the leaves and roots were different. The leaves and roots of plants at Hidalgo accumulated a similar range of alkaloids to the seeds with cytisine and/or N-methylcytisine being most abundant, whereas at Queretaro the leaves and roots accumulated lupinine, with other alkaloids being relatively minor constituents.“
[Phytochemical differences between Califia secundiflora (Leguminosae) growing at two sites in Mexico., Zavala-Chávez, F., García-Mateos, R., Soto-Hernandez, H.M., Kite, G., Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C, Vol.61, 2006, 155-159]
http://www.znaturforsch.com/ac/v61c/s61c0155.pdf

Dermatophyllum secundiflorum as Sophora secundiflora
Sargent, C.S., The Silva of North America, vol.3, t.121 (1899) [C.E. Faxon]
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=961208