Stenocereus, from Ancient Greek (), meaning "narrow", and Latin , meaning "candle", is a genus of columnar or tree-like cacti from the Baja California Peninsula and other parts of Mexico, Arizona in the United States, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela, and the West Indies. The genus has been enlarged by the addition of species from several other genera. 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 flowers are mostly borne near the apex 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 (the organ-pipe cactus) is a well-known member of this genus and is widely distributed in Arizona and northern Mexico.
The fruit are similar to a dragon fruit. They are typically fleshy, up to in length, and adorned with thorns. The fruit tend to split open irregularly, and in most cases, the remnants of the flower remain attached until just before the fruit ripen. The seeds within the fruit are large, glossy, and usually dark black in color. They are also typically smooth in texture. Those of Stenocereus gummosus, acidic and very refreshing, are highly favored by the Seris of northwestern Mexico,Felger, Richard & Moser, Mary B. (1985): People of the desert and sea: ethnobotany of the Seri Indians. University of Arizona Press, Tucson who call the cactus ziix is ccapxl – "thing whose fruit is sour". It is commonly known in Spanish as , or by the English translation sour pitaya. S. griseus (dagger cactus) fruit, locally known as iguaraya, are relished by the Wayuu people from the Guajira Peninsula of Colombia.Villalobos, Soraya; Vargas, Orlando & Melo, Sandra (2007): Uso, manejo y conservacion de "yosú", Stenocereus griseus (Cactaceae) en la Alta Guajira colombiana [Usage, Management and Conservation of yosú, Stenocereus griseus (Cactaceae), in the Upper Guajira, Colombia]. [Spanish with English abstract] Acta Biológica Colombiana 12(1): 99–112. PDF fulltext (2007)
Stenocereus species are often used as ornamental plants in hot and arid regions, and as noted above, some species can double as a fruit crop.
The interiors of Stenocereus trunks often grow to form tough, cane-like stakes suitable for certain kinds of construction. The Wayuu use those of dagger cactus for building wattle-and-daub walls, a technique they call yotojoro, after their name for the cactus wood "canes".
Species , Plants of the World Online accepts these species: Image Scientific name Common name Distribution Stenocereus alamosensis (J.M. Coult.) A.C. Gibson & K.E. HorakOctopus cactus, cina Mexico Stenocereus beneckei (Ehrenb.) A. Berger & Buxb. Central Mexico Stenocereus chacalapensis (Bravo & T. MacDoug.) Buxb. Oaxaca - Mexico Stenocereus chrysocarpus Sánchez-Mej. Guerrero and Michoacán, Mexico Stenocereus eruca (Brandegee) A.C. Gibson & K.E. HorakCreeping devil caterpillar cactus Baja California Sur - Mexico Stenocereus fricii Sánchez-Mej.Pitayo De Aguas Colima, Jalisco, Michoacan de Ocampo - Mexico Stenocereus griseus (Haw.) Buxb.Dagger cactus, yosú (Wayuunaiki) Mexico to Venezuela Stenocereus gummosus (Engelm.) A. Gibson & K.E. HorakSour pitaya, pitaya agria, ziix is ccapxl (Cmiique iitom) Baja California (Norte), Baja California Sur - Mexico Stenocereus heptagonus (L.) Mottram Greater Antilles to Virgin Islands Stenocereus huastecorum Alvarado-Sizzo, Arreola-Nava & Terrazas Northeastern and central Mexico Stenocereus humilis (Britton & Rose) D.R.Hunt Central Colombia Stenocereus kerberi (K. Schum.) A.C. Gibson & K.E. Horak Colima, Sinaloa - Mexico Stenocereus martinezii (J.G. Ortega) Buxb.Pitahayo, Pitayo Sinaloa - Mexico Stenocereus montanus (Britton & Rose) Buxb. Chihuahua, Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit, Sinaloa, Sonora - Mexico Stenocereus pruinosus (Otto ex Pfeiff.) Buxb. Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tamaulipas, Veracruz-Llave - Mexico Stenocereus queretaroensis F.A.C.Weber ex Mathes.) Buxb. Colima, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacan de Ocampo, Queretaro de Zaragoza - Mexico Stenocereus quevedonis (J.G. Ortega) Buxb.Pitire Sinaloa - Mexico Stenocereus standleyi (J.G. Ortega) Buxb.Pitaya Marismena Guerrero, Sinaloa - Mexico Stenocereus stellatus (Pfeiff.) Riccob.Baja organ pipe cactus Oaxaca, Morelos, Puebla - Mexico Stenocereus thurberi (Engelm.) Buxb.Organpipe cactus Baja California (Norte), Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Sonora - Mexico, Arizona - United States Stenocereus treleasei (Vaupel) Backeb.Tunillo Oaxaca - MexicoStenocereus zopilotensis Arreola-Nava & Terrazas Mexico (Guerrero)
References
Further reading Anderson, Edward F. (2001): The Cactus Family Innes, C. & Wall, B. (1995): Cacti, Succulents and Bromaliads. Cassell & The Royal Horticultural Society.
External links
cactiguide.com