''Stenocereus'' () is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of columnar or tree-like

cacti 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, ...

from the Baja California Peninsula and other parts of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

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 ...

and the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. The genus has been enlarged by the addition of species from several other

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

. A close relative is the peculiar chinoa or chende cactus, '' Polaskia chende''.

Description

The species within the genus exhibit varying growth habits, often resembling trees or shrubs. They can also stretch out or creep to form dense thickets, and some species develop well-formed trunks. The green shoots of these plants are cylindrical in shape and feature distinctive cylindrical ribs. From these ribs, woolly areoles are present, from which strong spines emerge. Additionally, some species may have warts, while others do not. The

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 are mostly borne near the

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics) A-Bomb Abomination Absorbing Man Abraxas Abyss Abyss is the name of two characters appearing in Ameri ...

of the stems, funnel- or bell-shaped, and mostly nocturnal. The stem that supports the flowers (pericarpel) is often covered with numerous spiny areoles. They are considered easy to grow and generally grow slowly. ''

Stenocereus thurberi ''Stenocereus thurberi'', the organ pipe cactus, is a species of cactus native to Mexico and the United States. The species is found in rocky desert. Two subspecies are recognized based on their distribution and height. The Organ Pipe Cactus Nati ...

'' (the organ pipe cactus) is a well-known member of this

and is widely distributed in

and northern Mexico. The fruit is similar to a

dragon fruit 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 ...

. They are typically fleshy, up to 7.5 centimeters in length, and are adorned with thorns. The fruits tend to split open irregularly, and in most cases, the remnants of the flower remain attached until just before the fruit ripens. The seeds within the fruits are large, glossy, and usually dark black in color. They are also typically smooth in texture. Those of ''

Stenocereus gummosus ''Stenocereus gummosus'' is a flowering plant in the family Cactaceae that is found in Baja California, Mexico at elevations of 9 to 134 meters Description ''Stenocereus gummosus'' is a shrub-like plant with sparsely branched trunks reaching a h ...

'', acidic and very refreshing, are highly favored by the Seris of northwestern Mexico who call the cactus ''ziix is ccapxl'' – "thing whose fruit is sour". It is commonly known in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

as ''pitaya agria'', or by the English translation sour pitaya. '' S. griseus'' (dagger cactus) fruits, locally known as ''iguaraya'', are relished by the

Wayuu people 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, the ...

from the

Guajira Peninsula The Guajira Peninsula (, also spelled ''Goajira'', mainly in colonial period texts, ) is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean. It is the northernmost peninsula in South America and has an area of exte ...

.Villalobos ''et al.'' (2007) ''Stenocereus'' are often used as

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

s in hot and arid regions, and as noted above, some species can double as a fruit crop. The interior of ''Stenocereus'' trunks often grows to form tough, cane-like stakes suitable for certain kinds of construction. The Wayuu use those of Dagger Cactus for building

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 ...

walls, a technique they call ''yotojoro'', after their name for the cactus wood "canes".

Species

File:Sguaro1.jpg, Close-up of organpipe cactus ('' S. thurberi'') spines File:Fruto de Stenocereus queretaroensis.jpg, Fruit of ''

Stenocereus queretaroensis ''Stenocereus queretaroensis'' is a species of cactus from Mexico, including the state of Querétaro. It is cultivated for its fruit., pp. 647 Description Plants are tree-like growing with multiple candelabra-shaped branches, up to , with a centr ...

'' prepared for eating File:Stenocereus gummosus Huntington Desert Garden.jpg, ''

'' at the

Huntington Desert Garden The Huntington Desert Garden is part of The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. The Desert Garden is one of the world's largest and oldest collections of cacti, succulents and other desert plants, ...

Footnotes

References

*Anderson, Edward F. (2001): ''The Cactus Family'' *Felger, Richard & Moser, Mary B. (1985): ''People of the desert and sea: ethnobotany of the Seri Indians''. University of Arizona Press, Tucson *Innes, C. & Wall, B. (1995): ''Cacti, Succulents and Bromaliads''. Cassell & The Royal Horticultural Society. * Villalobos, Soraya; Vargas, Orlando & Melo, Sandra (2007): Uso, manejo y conservacion de ''"yosú", Stenocereus griseus'' (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
PDF fulltext

External links

*
cactiguide.com
{{Authority control Cactoideae genera Cacti of North America Taxa named by Alwin Berger Taxa named by Vincenzo Riccobono