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Peniocereus striatus
Also called Gear-Stem Cactus, Dahlia-rooted cactus, Dahlia Root Cereus
Peniocereus striatus is a species of cactus known by several common names, including gearstem cactus, cardoncillo, jacamatraca, sacamatraca, and dahlia-rooted cactus. It is endemic to the Sonoran Desert, where it occurs in Baja California, Sinaloa, and Sonora in Mexico and Arizona in the United States.
This cactus is a shrub with narrow brown or greenish cylindrical branching stems up to a meter long, but known to reach 2 meters at times. When not in flower or fruit the plant is "very inconspicuous", and "commonly looking more like a collection of dead stems" hidden amongst the dry branches of other plants. The stems are covered in clusters of small, weak spines a few millimeters long. They are yellowish white, sometimes with black tips. The roots have tuber-like swellings at their tips that resemble sweet potatoes. The flowers bloom at night.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Peniocereus striatus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
