Cleistocactus strausii
species of plant
Cleistocactus strausii, the silver torch or wooly torch, is a perennial flowering plant in the family Cactaceae.
Description
Cleistocactus strausii grows as a shrub, slender, erect, branches out from the base with several upright, with gray-green columns growing up to 3 m (9.8 ft) tall, but only about 6 cm (2.5 in) across, which are covered in white spines. The light green shoots reach a diameter of up to 8 cm (3.1 in) and are completely covered by dense, white spines. There are 25 to 30 ribs and are densely covered with areoles, supporting four yellow-brown spines up to 4 cm (1.5 in) long and 20 shorter white radials. The approximately 4 central spines are light yellow and up to 2 centimeters long. The 30 to 40 white radial spines are hairy to bristly and 1.5 to 5 centimeters long.
Older cacti, over 45 cm (17.5 in) tall, produce tubular flowers in late summer. They are deep red to burgundy and grow up to 6 cm (2.5 in) long cylindrical flowers protrude horizontally and radially from the stem of the cactus.The flower-tube is very densely covered with silky hairs. The pear to spherical, red fruits reach a diameter of up to 2 centimeters. In common with other cacti in the genus Cleistocactus, the flowers hardly open, with only the style and stamens protruding.
“Cleistocactus strausii” enters the record as species of plant. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Cleistocactus, strausii and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Cleistocactus strausii” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Cleistocactus, strausii and species provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q144921. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cleistocactus strausii” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.