#cleistocactus

[cactguy]

Desert Garden, The Huntington, California

The Huntington Desert Garden is one of the largest and oldest assemblages of cacti and other succulents in the world at over 100 years old. It features more than 2,000 species of plants across 10 acres.

[ruthbancroftgarden]

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.

-Brian

[morphons]

Cleistocactus winteri. June 2023.

[jillraggett]

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.

Jill Raggett

[eunnuiphyte]

Golden rats tail bloom 🌺

ID: Cleistocactus winteri 'Golden Rat Tail Cactus'

[olena]

Fell in love with this #cactus that's like a pile of furry worms. #cleistocactus iconagosus, if I had the right label. ... #plants#plantstagram#plantlife #정원#観葉植物#園芸#植物 #растения#plantas#plantes#pflanzen #prickleandvine (at NYBG)

[ruthbancroftgarden]

Cleistocactus smaragdiflorus

Cleistocactus is a South American genus of generally slender columnar cacti with narrow tubular flowers, adapted to pollination by hummingbirds. It is not uncommon for species in the genus to have flowers whose tips are colored differently from the rest of the flower, and this is seen here with the yellow tip and the pinkish-red tube of the flower. Native to northern Argentina and across the border in southern Bolivia.

-Brian

[ruthbancroftgarden]

Borzicactus tenuiserpens

This slender cylindrical-stemmed cactus was received under a wrong name, but I think it is Borzicactus tenuiserpens (also known as Cleistocactus tenuiserpens). There is considerable debate as to whether Borzicactus and Cleistocactus should be treated as separate genera or included together in Cleistocactus, but in general the Borzicactus group comes from farther north (Peru and Ecuador) and has flowers that flare out at the mouth, while the Cleistocactus group (in the narrower sense) has narrow tubular flowers and comes from farther south in Bolivia and Argentina. In any case, they have wonderful hummingbird-pollinated flowers, as can be seen here.

-Brian