''Echinopsis chiloensis'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

; genus members are known as ''hedgehog cacti'', ''sea-urchin cactus'' or ''Easter lily cactus''.

Description

This species, ''E chiloensis'', is tree-like with branching structures, straight, vigorous and up to 8 meters long. The shoots are cylindrical, 10 to 12 cm in diameter, and have 16 to 17 mostly low and wide ribs, usually low and wide. The glochids have bright yellow spines that later turn gray. The central spine is straight and is 4-7 (rarely up to 20) cm long. The radial spines of lateral emission are 8 to 12, and measure 1 to 2 cm or more. The funnel-shaped flowers are white and open during the day. They are up to 14 cm long. The fruits are spherical, green and edible. An example occurrence is within the

La Campana National Park La Campana National Park is located in the Cordillera de la Costa, Quillota Province, in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. La Campana National Park and the Vizcachas Mountains lie northwest of Santiago. This national park covers approximately and ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. File:Sector Palmar de Ocoa.jpg, Adult plant at

File:Matorral de Puya y Echinopsis chiloensis Parque Nacional La Campana.JPG, Habitat in

File:Palmar de Ocoa 06.jpg File:CactusChile.jpg, Spines File:Tristerix aphyllus flowers.jpg, ''

Tristerix aphyllus ''Tristerix aphyllus'' is a holoparasitic plant species of the genus ''Tristerix'' in the family Loranthaceae. It is endemic to Chile. '' T. aphyllus'' is sometimes called the "cactus mistletoe." It should not be confused with the mistletoe cact ...

'' parasitizing an ''Echinopsis chiloensis'' File:Trichocereus chiloensis 3.jpg, Flower

Distribution

''Echinopsis chiloensis'' is found from the north to the south of central

, where it grows in coastal areas as well as in valleys and foothills of the Andes at elevations up to 1800 meters. The species was first described as ''Cactus chiloensis'' and published in 1826 by Luigi Colla. After several recombinations, Heimo Friedrich and

Gordon Douglas Rowley Gordon Douglas Rowley (1921–2019) 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. He went to The Low ...

placed it in the genus ''Echinopsis'' in 1974.

References

* Edward F. Anderson. 2001. ''The cactus family'', Timber Press, 776 pages * C. Michael Hogan. 2008
''Chilean Wine Palm: Jubaea chilensis'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
chiloensis Cacti of South America Flora of Chile {{Cactus-stub