Argentine Saguaro

Appearance

It is a columnar, branching cactus that can grow over 7.6 metres tall. Its branches are about 25 cm in diameter with 8 to 14 ribs. Branches are cylindrical, fleshy, light green. The branches are 10-20 cm in diameter, with 8-14 blunt ribs. It has large brownish areoles about 2.5 cm apart with 8 to 15 yellowish spines, 8.3–10 cm long, a central one, sometimes absent, and 8-15 radial. The nocturnal funnel-shaped white flowers can grow up to 15–20 cm long and 13–15 cm wide. Pericarp and flower tube with dense white or brown axillary hairs. The round or oblong blue fruits are about 1.3 cm in diameter and contain black to brown, oval seeds approximately 0.76 mm long.

Distribution

It is native to several provinces including Jujuy, Tucumán, La Rioja, San Juan, Catamarca and Salta provinces in northwestern Argentina, and is the eponymous cactus of Los Cardones National Park in Salta Province. Range continues to the western slopes of the Andes in Peru, Bolivia department of Tarija, and Ecuador. It is found growing on dry slopes of the Andean foothills at altitudes of 500 to 1500 meters.

Uses

" Leucostele terscheckii" contains > 0.005-0.025% mescaline in fresh cactus and 0.01%-2.375% mescaline in dry weight, so dried cactus is sometimes processed for mescaline hydrochloride.