Cleistocactus brookeae

Cleistocactus brookeae is a species of columnar cacti in the genus Cleistocactus.

Description
Cleistocactus brookeae grows as a shrub with sparsely branched, upright to columnar shoots up to 50 centimeters long and 3 to 4.5 centimeters in diameter. There are 22 to 25 ribs. The areoles on it are close together. 25 to 40 greyish-white or slightly yellowish spines, up to 1 centimeter long, emerge from them, which cannot be distinguished into central and radial spines.

The red to orange flowers are up to 5 centimeters long and have a diameter of 8 millimeters. The flowers are bent upwards in a right-angled S-shape above the pericarpell and flattened laterally. They are also somewhat sac-like bulging immediately above the pericarpell. The mouth is askew. The purple fruits reach a diameter of 8 to 10 millimeters.

Distribution
Cleistocactus brookeae is distributed in the Bolivian departments of Chuquisaca and Santa Cruz at altitudes of 800 to 1300 meters.

Taxonomy
The first description was in 1952 by Martín Cárdenas. The specific epithet brookeae honors the Bolivian plant collector Winifred M. Brooke.