Cleistocactus tominensis

Cleistocactus tominensis is a species of columnar cactus in the genus Cleistocactus, endemic to Bolivia, where it is found in forests, on cliffs, and in inter-Andean valleys at altitudes of 900 to 2,200 meters.

Description
Cleistocactus tominensis grows as a shrub with initially unbranched, later branched at the base, parallel, upright shoots and reaches heights of up to 2 meters with a diameter of up to 5 centimeters. There are 18 to 22 low, transversely furrowed ribs. The 8 to 9 thin, later strong thorns are yellowish to reddish, turn gray with age and are up to 4 centimeters long. They are difficult to distinguish in central and radial spines.

The narrow tubular flowers are green to yellow to pink or occasionally green at the base and red towards the tips. They are up to 2.5 centimeters long. The bracts are fairly spread out. The spherical, light pink fruits reach a diameter of up to 1.8 centimeters.

Distribution
Cleistocactus tominensis is distributed in the Bolivian departments of La Paz, Chuquisaca and Tarija in the foothills of the Andes at altitudes of 900 to 2200 meters.

Taxonomy
The first description as Cereus tominensis was made in 1931 by Wilhelm Weingart. The specific epithet tominensis refers to the occurrence of the species near Tomina in the Bolivian department of Chuquisaca. Curt Backeberg placed the species in the genus Cleistocactus in 1936.

Synonyms

 * Borzicactus tominensis (Weing.) Borg
 * Borzicactus tominensis (Weing.) Neale
 * Cereus tominensis Weing.
 * Cleistocactus clavicaulis Cárdenas
 * Cleistocactus crassicaulis Cárdenas
 * Cleistocactus crassicaulis var. paucispinus F.Ritter
 * Cleistocactus mendozae Cárdenas
 * Cleistocactus viridialabastri Cárdenas