''Stenocereus'' ( Gk. ''stenos'', narrow, L. ''cereus'', candle) is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of columnar or tree-like

cacti 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 ...

from the Baja California Peninsula and other parts of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and the ABC islands of the Dutch Caribbean. The genus has been enlarged by the addition of species from several other

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

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

Polaskia chende ''Polaskia chende'' is a succulent cactus native to a small area of mountains of northern Oaxaca and southern Puebla, Mexico. It grows in xerophytic A xerophyte (from Greek ξηρός ''xeros'' 'dry' + φυτόν ''phuton'' 'plant') is a specie ...

''.

Description

The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are mostly borne near the apex of the stems and mostly nocturnal. They are considered easy to grow and generally grow slowly. '' Stenocereus thurberi'' (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 A pitaya () or pitahaya () is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous to the Americas. Pitaya usually refers to fruit of the genus ''Stenocereus'', while pitahaya or dragon fruit refers to fruit of the genus ''Selenicereus'' ( ...

. Those of ''

Stenocereus gummosus ''Stenocereus gummosus'' is a flowering plant in the family Cactaceae 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 Caryophy ...

'', 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 as ''pitaya agria'', or by the English translation

Sour Pitaya The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception produced or stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor ...

. '' S. griseus'' (

Dagger Cactus ''Stenocereus griseus'', also known as the Mexican organ pipe, dagger cactus, pitaya, and pitayo de mayo, is a species of cactus. Description This tree-like cactus can grow up to 9 m tall, with stems up to 12 cm in diameter. Depending on t ...

) fruits, locally known as ''iguaraya'', are relished by the Wayuu from the

La Guajira Peninsula The Guajira Peninsula ( es, Península de La Guajira, links=no, also spelled ''Goajira'', mainly in colonial period texts, guc, Hikükariby) is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean. It is the norther ...

.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 that i ...

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 building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...

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 Plants are tall, up to , with a central trunk followed by many upturned branches, producing a candelab ...

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

'' at the Huntington Desert Garden.

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
{{Taxonbar, from=Q133435 Cactoideae genera Cacti of North America Taxa named by Alwin Berger Taxa named by Vincenzo Riccobono