Pesh
The pesh plant is a fuzzy-looking cactus grown as a major trade crop in southern Katapesh. The pesh drug produced from the cactus is a narcotic with hallucinogenic and analgesic properties that are popular as a pain killer, psychedelic, alchemical reagent, power component, and Katapesh's main export, despite its illegality in most other countries.
Basic Information
Anatomy
A pesh cactus has a bulbous body with thick, flat stem segments that resemble rabbit ears, covered in numerous fuzzy glochids of whitish-yellow and larger yellow spines. It covers 2 to 5 feet at maturity in a shrub-like mass and can grow to a maximum height of 5 feet. The springtime flowers bloom in a distinctive yellow hue with red stripes, later leaving behind a hard green pod. (References: Opuntia microdasys, Papaver somniferum.)
Ecology and Habitats
Originally grown exclusively in southern Katapesh, pesh cacti now have a wider distribution in other hot, arid deserts capable of supporting them, although they enjoy their optimal growing conditions of central and southern Katapesh the most.
Biological Cycle
Pesh cactus grow continuously in their native environment, dropping into torpor if too cold or withering away if too humid. Their flowers bloom every Spring and last for several months before the petals are lost and the hard, fleshy pod that remains contains the seeds of the pesh cactus and the valuable latex later processed into refined pesh.
Origin/Ancestry
Katapesh
Conservation Status
Least Concern (LC) – Widespread cactus farming throughout southern Katapesh.
Geographic Distribution
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