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Pachycereus pringlei (S. Watson) Britton & Rose 1909

Cardón, cardón gigante, cardón pelón, sagueso, sahuaso, Mexican giant cardon, elephant cactus

KingdomPlantaePlants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
SubkingdomTracheobiontaVascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
DivisionMagnoliophytaFlowering plants, also known as angiosperms
ClassMagnoliopsidaDicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
SubclassCaryophyllidaeCacti, many other succulents, carnivorous plants, and leadworts
OrderCaryophyllalesIncludes cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, and many carnivorous plants
FamilyCactaceaeSucculent (water-storing) plants, often spiny
GenusPachycereus
SpeciespringleiAfter Cyrus Guernsey Pringle (1838-1911), a Quaker imprisoned for refusal to enter the Union Army, later an ardent collector and classifier of southwestern flora, eventually donating 500,000 specimens to the University of Vermont, to what became the Pringle Herbarium

About plant names...

These imposing cacti are native to the Sonoran Desert and on the Baja peninsula in Mexico.

Identification: Cardón occurs as very tall columns, sometimes branched, up to 36′ (11 m) high, with trunks 2′ (60 cm) in diameter. They closely resemble Saguaros, a related species, and play a similar ecological role. Stems are strongly furrowed with 10-16 ribs, dark green or bluish green, becoming yellow green. Multiple white flowers appear near the tips, each up to 3″ (8 cm) long. They are shaped like funnels or bells. Spherical fruits are covered with yellowish brown fine hairs and bristles, and are 2½″ (7 cm) long.

Pachycereus pringlei (cardón, cardón gigante, cardón pelón, sagueso, sahuaso, Mexican giant cardon, elephant cactus)

Green fruit (left), mature fruit, and the fruit interior. By Wilfredor.

References:

Anderson, Edward F., The Cactus Family, Timber Press, 2001, p. 536

Online References:

CactiGuide.com

Wikipedia

Desert-tropicals.com

Wikimedia Commons

CalPhotos

Cereus pringlei S. Watson 1885

Pilocereus pringlei (S. Watson) F. A. C. Weber 1898

Pachycereus calvus Britton & Rose 1909

 

Pachycereus pringlei description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

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Pachycereus pringlei (cardón, cardón gigante, cardón pelón, sagueso, sahuaso, Mexican giant cardon, elephant cactus)

7/29/2023 · Islands in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico · By Constance B. Kent

Pachycereus pringlei (cardón, cardón gigante, cardón pelón, sagueso, sahuaso, Mexican giant cardon, elephant cactus)

7/29/2023 · Islands in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico · By Constance B. Kent

Pachycereus pringlei (cardón, cardón gigante, cardón pelón, sagueso, sahuaso, Mexican giant cardon, elephant cactus)

7/29/2023 · East of Kino Bay, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico · By John W. Kent

Range: Zones 10-12:

About this map...