Leucostele atacamensis

Leucostele atacamensis is a species of cactus from Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. The wood of this species can be used in building and in making furniture.

Description

Leucostele atacamensis has a tall columnar habit, sometimes forming branches in a candelabra shape and becoming treelike. It grows to about high, with stems to across. The stems have 20-30 ribs and areoles have a diameter of up to 2 centimeters and become larger with age with 50-100 maroon coloured spines, the longest up to long. In younger plants, the yellowish to honey-colored thorns are strongly needle-like and up to 10 centimeters long. The two to four central spines cannot always be clearly distinguished from the peripheral spines. The rose-white flowers are long, open day and night, borne on the sides of the stems. The dark green fruits are densely covered with hairs, up to long; they are edible.

Subspecies

There are two recognized subspecies.

Image	Name	Description	Distribution
	Leucostele atacamensis subsp. pasacana Schlumpb.	often branched, tall	Argentina and Bolivia
	Leucostele atacamensis subsp. atacamensis	usually unbranched, less tall (up to	Chile.

Distribution

Leucostele atacamensis is widespread in the northeast of Chile the regions of Antofagasta, Tarapacá, Arica and Parinacota; the southwest of Bolivia in departments of Oruro, Potosí, and Tarija; and the north of Argentina in the provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán, Catamarca, La Rioja, and San Juan at altitudes of 1700 to 3900 meters.

Systematics

Leucostele atacamensis was first described by Rodolfo Philippi as Cereus atacamensis in 1860. The specific epithet atacamensis refers to the higher mountain areas in the Atacama region of Chile, where the species is found. It was placed in a number of genera, including Trichocereus and Helianthocereus, before being moved to Echinopsis by Helmo Friedrich and Gordon Rowley in 1974. In 2012, Boris O. Schlumpberger reclassified the species into the genus Leucostele.