Contents

Stenocereus

Stenocereus
Organ pipe cactus Stenocereus thurberi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Tribe:	Echinocereeae
Genus:	Stenocereus (A.Berger) Riccob.
Type species
Stenocereus stellatus
Species
Several, see text
Synonyms
Hertrichocereus Backeb. Isolatocereus Backeb. Machaerocereus Britton & Rose Marshallocereus Backeb. Neolemaireocereus Backeb. Rathbunia Britton & Rose Ritterocereus Backeb.

Stenocereus (from Ancient Greek στενός (stenós) 'narrow', and Latin cereus '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[edit]

The flowers 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 genus and is widely distributed in Arizona and northern Mexico.

The fruit is similar to a dragon fruit. Those of Stenocereus gummosus, acidic and very refreshing, are highly favored by the Seris of northwestern Mexico^[1] who call the cactus ziix is ccapxl^[2] - "thing whose fruit is sour". It is commonly known in Spanishaspitaya agria, or by the English translation Sour Pitaya. S. griseus (Dagger Cactus) fruits, locally known as iguaraya, are relished by the Wayuu from the La Guajira PeninsulaofColombia.^[3]

Stenocereus are often used as ornamental plants 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 walls, a technique they call yotojoro, after their name for the cactus wood "canes".^[3]

Species[edit]

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Stenocereus alamosensis (J.M. Coult.) A.C. Gibson & K.E. Horak	Octopus cactus, cina	Mexico
	Stenocereus aragonii (F.A.C.Weber) Buxb.		Costa Rica
	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 dumortieri (Scheidw.) Backeb.		Querétaro, Mexico
	Stenocereus eichlamii (Britton & Rose) Buxb. ex Bravo	Guanocal, Organo, Pitahaya, Tuna	Guatemala : Chiapas - Mexico (Central America, North America)
	Stenocereus eruca (Brandegee) A.C. Gibson & K.E. Horak	Creeping devil caterpillar cactus	Baja California Sur - Mexico
	Stenocereus fimbriatus (Lam.) Lourteig		Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti, Dominican Republic), Jamaica, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands
	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. Horak	Sour 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		northern 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 - Mexico
	Stenocereus yunckeri (Standl.) P.V. Heath		Guatemala, Honduras
	Stenocereus zopilotensis Arreola-Nava & Terrazas		Mexico (Guerrero)

• 
  Close-up of organpipe cactus (S. thurberi) spines
• 
  Fruit of Stenocereus queretaroensis prepared for eating
• 
  Stenocereus gummosus at the Huntington Desert Garden.

Footnotes[edit]

References[edit]

• Anderson, Edward F. (2001): The Cactus Family ^{[ISBN missing]}
• Felger, Richard & Moser, Mary B. (1985): People of the desert and sea: ethnobotany of the Seri Indians. University of Arizona Press, Tucson ^{[ISBN missing]}
• Innes, C. & Wall, B. (1995): Cacti, Succulents and Bromaliads. Cassell & The Royal Horticultural Society.^{[ISBN missing]}
• 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

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stenocereus.

• Data related to Stenocereus at Wikispecies
• cactiguide.com