#cleistocactus

Desert Garden, The Huntington, California

Cleistocactus tominensis

This cactus was received under the name Cleistocactus tominensis, and it is a good match for photos of the species except that its flowers are larger than what they are supposed to be. I am supposing that it is simply a form of the species with larger flowers, but in any case the hairy green tubular flowers are great. While not shown in this photo, the flowers do get a reddish tinge after they open. Native to Bolivia.

Plant of the Day

Thursday 14 December 2023

These columnar cacti, Cleistocactus hyalacanthus, branches at the base to form a cluster of stems densely clad in yellowish-white needle-like spines. This species is from Bolivia to North West Argentina and grows primarily in the desert or dry shrubland.

Golden rats tail bloom 🌺

Cleistocactus sepium

This short-columnar cactus makes a cluster of stems, and it produces flushes of spectacular flowers at intervals during the warm part of the year. As can be seen, the flowers have a hairy tubular lower part, with a flared red or pinkish-red mouth. It is native to Ecuador. While many classifiers have included this species in Cleistocactus, others have favored keeping that genus for the more southerly-occurring species that do not have flared mouths, while recognizing a separate genus Borzicactus for the northern ones such as the species shown here.

Cleistocactus candelilla

Cleistocactus flowers are often wonderful displays of color-fades - in this case, purplish-red at the base, then abruptly fading to pale yellow before ending with purple tips. These are South American slender-columnar cacti from the southern Andes, and C. candelilla comes from south-central Bolivia. The narrow flowers are custom-tailored for hummingbird bills.