''Leucostele terscheckii'', commonly known as the cardon grande cactus or Argentine saguaro, is a large cactus native to

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 ...

and popular in cultivation.

Description

It is a columnar, branching cactus that can grow over tall. Its branches are about in diameter with 8 to 14 ribs. Branches are cylindrical, fleshy, light green. The branches are 10-20 cm in diameter, with 8-14 blunt ribs. It has large brownish

areoles In botany, areoles are small light- to dark-colored bumps on cacti out of which grow clusters of spines. Areoles are important diagnostic features of cacti, and identify them as a family distinct from other succulent plants. Gordon Rowley - Wh ...

about apart with 8 to 15 yellowish spines, long, a central one, sometimes absent, and 8-15 radial. The

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

funnel-shaped white flowers can grow up to long and wide. Pericarp and flower tube with dense white or brown axillary hairs. The round or oblong blue fruits are about in diameter and contain black to brown, oval seeds approximately long. Echinopsis terscheckii 03.jpg, Spines File:Echinopsis terscheckii-374833.jpg, Flowers File:Echinopsis terscheckii 1.jpg, Growth File:Cactus GardenSD2.jpg, Buds File:Echinopsis terscheckii monstroso (8410101536).jpg, Crested plant

Native distribution

It is native to several provinces including Jujuy, Tucumán, La Rioja, San Juan, Catamarca and

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Salta Province, the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the List of cities in Argentina, 7th most-populous ...

provinces in northwestern

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, and is the eponymous cactus of Los Cardones National Park in Salta Province. Range continues to the western slopes of the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

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 ...

department of Tarija, and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. It is found growing on dry slopes of the Andean foothills at altitudes of 500 to 1500 meters.

Taxonomy

This species was first described as ''Cereus terscheckii'' by Ludwig Georg Karl Pfeiffer was published in 1837. Heimo Friedrich and

Gordon Douglas Rowley Gordon Douglas Rowley (31 July 1921 – 11 August 2019) was a British botanist and writer specialising in cacti and succulents. Personal life Rowley was born on 31 July 1921 in London, UK to Cecil and Florence Gladys (née Goldsworthy) Rowley. ...

placed the species in the genus ''

Echinopsis ''Echinopsis'' is a genus of Cactus, cacti native plant, native to South America, sometimes known as hedgehog cactus, sea-urchin cactus or Easter lily cactus. , there are about 20 accepted species, ranging from large and treelike types to small ...

'' in 1974. The specific epithet terscheckii honors the court gardener Carl Adolph Terscheck of

Japanisches Palais The Japanisches Palais (English: "Japanese Palace") is a building in the Baroque architecture, Baroque style in Dresden, Saxony, Germany. It is located on the Innere Neustadt (Dresden), Neustadt bank of the river Elbe. History Built in 1715, ...

in Dresden. In 2012, Boris O. Schlumpberger reclassified the species into the genus ''

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 ...

''.Boris O. Schlumpberger: ''New combinations in the Echinopsis alliance.'' In: ''Cactaceae Systematics Initiatives.'' Nr. 28, 2012, S. 30.

Human uses

'' Leucostele terscheckii'' contains > 0.005-0.025%

mescaline Mescaline, also known as mescalin or mezcalin, and in chemical terms 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine, is a natural product, naturally occurring psychedelic drug, psychedelic alkaloid, protoalkaloid of the substituted phenethylamine class, found ...

in fresh cactus and 0.01%-2.375%Forbidden Fruit Archives
mescaline in dry weight, so dried cactus is sometimes processed for mescaline hydrochloride.

References

* http://www.delange.org/CardonGrande/CardonGrande.htm
Trichocereus terscheckii (J.Parm. ex Pfeiff.) Britton & Rose Plants of the World Online

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1280648 terscheckii Flora of Argentina Flora of Ecuador Flora of Bolivia Flora of Peru Entheogens