Posted by
Baja_Costero (Baja California - Zone 11b) on Mar 3, 2022 7:12 PM concerning plant:
Blue or blue-green treelike cactus with stems to 12 inches wide and up to 15-20 feet tall (or more) in old age. The color is really striking in strong light, making juveniles in particular quite photogenic. 18+ tuberculate ribs, 1-3 stout central spines, up to 4-6 radial spines. Reproductive (mature, flowering) stems have up to 30 spines per areole; they are finer and more like bristles. White flowers with dark reddish brown tubes, dry fruit.
From southern Peru. Not common in cultivation. Provide strong light and excellent drainage.
This plant was classified as Azureocereus hertlingianus in a 2014 Cactology publication, but this switch back to a 1959 name appears not to be accepted by the CoL. Browningia candelaris (the sole species they left in that genus) differs from this species in a number of key respects, including the morphology of mature stems (much narrower) and the type of fruit (fleshy, not dry).
