Pachycereus Pringlei

Description

Pachycereus Pringlei, named after American botanist, Cyrus Pringle, is a columnar cactus native to the Sonoran Desert that is the tallest of all cactus species. With specimens reportedly reaching seventy feet in height with a diameter of about five feet, this species resembles the popular Giant Saguaro (Carnegiea Gigantea) but has fewer ribs. Pringlei blooms white flowers from March through June. The flowers are pollinated by insects, birds and bats. Birds and bats are also responsible for spreading Pringleis seed when they eat the fruit, which is also edible to humans. This fruit was used as a staple food by natives such as the Seri people of the Sonoran Desert. Native people also utilized other parts of the cactus such as the seed, which they ground into flour, and the spines, which they used to make fishing spears. Like other species of columnar cactus, pringlei was also reportedly used for construction and fencing. Additionally, the flesh was used medicinally as a disinfectant and a pain killer as well as for healing.