Стетсония колючая: описание и особенности кактуса

Species of cactus

Stetsonia coryne, the toothpick cactus, is the sole species in the cactus genus Stetsonia. Stetsonia coryne grows to a height of tall. It has white flowers. This cacti, also contains Mescaline / (and other alkaloids)

The plant is large, arborescent habit , tree like reaches a growth height of 5 to 8 meters up to 12 meters. The trunk is thick and short, measuring about 4 dm in diameter, with numerous erect or somewhat bent branches form from a trunk. The blue green shoots, turn greenish gray with age, usually not jointed and have a diameter of 9 to 10 centimeters. There are 8 to 9 blunt edged, somewhat notched ribs that are 1 to 1.5 centimeters high. The yellow spines, which later turn black, are straight and stiff. The central spine grows to 2–5 cm long and are thickened at the base., the 7 to 9 spreading marginal spines to 3 centimeters long. There is a single central spine, straight and more robust, which can measure up to 8 cm in length. All are black or yellowish brown in color, although they eventually turn white with a dark tip. It flowers from October to April with funnel shaped flowers that are white and grow up to 15 centimeters in diameter. They open at night and often remain open until the next day. The pericarp is covered with numerous, roof tile like, the long corolla tube with scattered scales. The plant fruits from January to May and its fruit is a fleshy berry 4 cm in diameter ovoid, scaled, edible fruits are green to reddish and have a drooping floral remnant. The broadly oval, shiny blackish brown seeds are 1.7 millimeters long and 1 millimeter wide. They are humped with a fine wrinkled pattern.

The first description as Cereus coryne was made in 1850 by Joseph zu Salm Reifferscheidt Dyck. Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose placed the species in their newly established monotypic genus Stetsonia in 1920. The genus was named to honor Francis Lynde Stetson, a New York attorney and plant lover.

Stetsonia coryne is distributed in the high altitude arid regions,the deserts and dry forest (Gran Chaco) of north western Argentina, as well as in Bolivia, Paraguay and the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the species is listed as "Least Concern (LC)".