''Leucostele litoralis'' is a species of ''

Leucostele ''Leucostele'' is a genus of large Cactus, cacti native species, native to Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. Species Species of the genus ''Leucostele'' according to Plants of the World Online : References External links

* * {{taxonbar, f ...

'' found in Chile.

Description

''Leucostele litoralis'' grows shrubby, branches from the base with several arched or upright branches and reaches heights of 1 to 3 meters. The cylindrical, gray-green to dark green shoots reach a diameter of and 50 cm long. There are about 17-21 fairly distinct and not very wide ribs that are somewhat humpbacked. The oblique areoles on them are yellowish white and are up to apart. The spines emerging from them are initially yellowish and later turn gray. The two to seven somewhat unequal, fairly thick central spines are long. The 15 to 29 thin, apical marginal spines are radiating, 2 cm long, gray to light brown. The 1-2 funnel-shaped, white flowers appear on the subapical sides near the tips of the shoots and are also open during the day. They are long and have a diameter of up to . The brownish green fruits reach a diameter of . File:Avena barbata y Echinopsis litoralis by Pato Novoa.jpg File:Echinopsis chiloensis ssp. littoralis (Quisco costero) 02.jpg

Distribution

''Leucostele litoralis'' is found in the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an regions of

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port List of cities in Chile, city, Communes of Chile, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, Chile, La S ...

and

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

, close to the coast at elevations of 33 to 100 meters. The plant is found growing in scrub along with '' Fuchsia lycioides''.

Taxonomy

The first description as ''Cereus litoralis'' by Friedrich Richard Adelbert Johow was published in 1923. The specific epithet litoralis comes from Latin, means 'on the coast' and refers to the species' near-shore occurrence. Pablo C. Guerrero and Helmut Walter placed the species in the genus ''Leucostele'' in 2019. Further nomenclature synonyms are ''Trichocereus litoralis'' (Johow) Looser (1929), ''Echinopsis litoralis'' (Johow) H.Friedrich & G.D.Rowley (1974), ''Echinopsis chiloensis'' subsp. ''litoralis'' (Johow) M.Lowry (2003) and ''Trichocereus chiloensis'' subsp. ''litoralis'' (Johow) Faúndez (2007).

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q89024763 litoralis Cacti of South America Flora of northern Chile