''Cereus repandus'' (syn. ''Cereus peruvianus''), the Peruvian apple cactus, is a large, erect, spiny columnar

cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

found in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. It is also known as giant club cactus, hedge cactus, ''cadushi'' (in

Papiamento Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; ) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao ( ABC Islands). The language, spelled in Aruba and in Bonaire and ...

and

Wayuunaiki Wayuu ( ), or Guajiro, is a major Arawakan language spoken by 400,000 indigenous Wayuu people in northwestern Venezuela and northeastern Colombia on the Guajira Peninsula and surrounding Lake Maracaibo. There were an estimated 300,000 speake ...

Villalobos ''et al.'' (2007)), and ''kayush''. ''Cereus repandus'' is grown mostly as an ornamental plant, but has some local culinary importance. The

Wayuu The Wayuu (also Wayu, Wayú, Guajiro, Wahiro) are an Indigenous ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula in northernmost Colombia and northwest Venezuela. The Wayuu language is part of the Arawakan language family. Throughout their history, they ...

from the La Guajira Peninsula of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

also use the inner cane-like wood of the plant in

wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite material, composite building method in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called "wattle (construction), wattle" is "daubed" with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, and ...

construction.

Description

With an often tree-like appearance, its cylindrical gray-green to blue stems can reach in height and 10–20 cm in diameter as a self-supporting plant. There are nine to ten rounded ribs that are up to 1 centimeter high. The small areoles on it are far apart. The gray, needle-like thorns are very variable. They are often numerous, but can also be missing entirely. The longest thorns are up to 5 centimeters long. The large, cream-colored, nocturnal

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s remain open for only one night and are of vital importance to pollinating bats. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s, known locally as

pitaya Pitaya () or pitahaya () (common names strawberry pear or dragon fruit) is the fruit of several cactus species indigenous to the region of southern Mexico and along the Pacific coasts of Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. Pitaya is cult ...

, ''olala'' (only in some parts of

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

) or Peruvian apple, are thornless and vary in skin colour from violet-red to yellow. The edible flesh is white and contains small, edible, crunchy seeds. The flesh sweetens as the fruit opens out fully. As the cactus grows in arid regions and fruits in the dry seasons, the fruit is an essential source of food for birds in its native range. Edward F. Anderson: The Great Cactus Encyclopedia . Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart 2005, , pp. 110-111 . Cereus repandus is often confused with others species in the genus cereus such as

Cereus forbesii ''Cereus forbesii'' is a species of columnar cactus whose native range is Bolivia to N. Central Argentina. Common hybrids include ''C. forbesii'' 'Ming Thing' (a '' monstrose'' form) and 'Spiralis', with its vertically spiraling growth habit. D ...

Cereus jamacaru ''Cereus jamacaru'', known as mandacaru or cardeiro, is a cactus native to central and eastern Brazil. It often grows up to high. Description The plants have wooded stem succulent trees that reach about 9 m (up to 15 m) in height with segmente ...

Cereus hildmannianus ''Cereus hildmannianus'' is a species of cactus from southern South America. Its distribution is uncertain but probably includes Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina., pp. 144–145 This cactus thrives in diverse habitats such as forests, sava ...

, and

Cereus hexagonus ''Cereus hexagonus'' or lady of the night cactus is a species of columnar cactus found in northern South America. Description ''Cereus hexagonus'' grows like a tree with erect shoots that branch out from near the base and can reach heights of gr ...

Images

File:Cereus Peruvianus Fruit.jpg, Cereus Peruvianus Fruit File:Gardenology.org-IMG 0400 hunt07mar.jpg, Cereus repandus at Huntington Botanical Gardens

Footnotes

References

* Anderson, Edward F. (2001): ''The Cactus Family'': 148–149. Timber Press. * Villalobos, Soraya; Vargas, Orlando & Melo, Sandra (2007): Uso, manejo y conservacion de ''"yosú",

Stenocereus griseus ''Stenocereus griseus'', also known as the Mexican organ pipe, dagger cactus, pitaya, and pitayo de mayo, is a species of cactus. Description ''Stenocereus griseus'' is a tree-shaped cactus that grows to 6-9 meters tall with a clear trunk and u ...

'' (Cactaceae) en la Alta Guajira colombiana sage, Management and Conservation of ''yosú, Stenocereus griseus'' (Cactaceae), in the Upper Guajira, Colombia panish with English abstract''Acta Biológica Colombiana'' 12(1): 99–112
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q310887 repandus Tropical agriculture Desert fruits Drought-tolerant plants Taxa named by Philip Miller

Description

Images

See also

Footnotes

References