Appearance
Stems ascending, later prostrate or pendent, profusely branching at base, 1-2 m long or more, 8-24 mm thick; ribs 7-14, obtuse; margins ± tuberculate; areoles minute, whitish; internodes 4-8 mm; spines 8-20, 3-8 mm long, bristle-like, yellowish to brownish; epidermis green, later grayish. Flowers zygomorphic, 7-10 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, limb bilaterally symmetric, oblique, diurnal, open for 3-5 days, scentless; pericarpel greenish with acute bracteoles; receptacle 3 cm, long, curved just above pericarpel, bracteoles, brownish, acute; outer tepals linear-lanceolate, ± reflexed, 2-3 cm long, 6 mm wide, crimson; inner tepals narrowly oblong, to 10 mm wide, crimson, sometimes passing to pink along the margins; stamens white to pale pink, erect, excerted; style stigma lobes 5-7, white Fruit globose, 10-12 mm long, red, bristly, pulp yellowish; seeds ovoid, brownish red.
Naming
Flagella = whip or lash. A reference descriptive of the stems.Habitat
Mexico: Hidalgo. Dry forests. Lithophytic or epiphytic in dry forests. Seems rare and seldom collected in the field.Evolution
One of the first cacti to be introduced into European culture. Watson offers the year 1690 but probably earlier. This has always been one of the most popular cacti in cultivation. Still almost nothing is known about its natural habit.References:
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