# Stenocereus

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

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 is similar to a dragon fruit. They are typically fleshy, up to 7.5 centimeters in length, and are adorned with thorns. The fruits tend to split open irregularly, and in most cases, the remnants of the flower remain attached until just before the fruit ripens. The seeds within the fruits 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 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. S. griseus (dagger cactus) fruits, locally known as iguaraya, are relished by the Wayuu people from the Guajira Peninsula of Colombia.
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".

## Species

| Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
| Stenocereus alamosensis (J.M. Coult.) A.C. Gibson & K.E. Horak | Octopus 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. Horak | Creeping 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. 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 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 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

* ↑ Backeberg, Curt (1982). Die Cactaceae: Handbuch der Kakteenkunde (in German). Stuttgart New York: G. Fischer. p. 2138-2155. ISBN 3-437-30383-X.
* ↑ Felger & Moser (1985)
* ↑ Kozak, David L. (2013). Inside Dazzling Mountains: Southwest Native Verbal Arts Native literatures of the Americas UPCC book collections on Project MUSE. U of Nebraska Press. pp. 48–49. ISBN 9780803240865.
* 1 2 Villalobos et al. (2007)