Corryocactus apiciflorus

Corryocactus apiciflorus or is a species of columnar cactus found in  Peru.

Description
Corryocactus apiciflorus grows as a shrub with spreading or ascending, densely thorny shoots up to 50 centimeters long and 2.5 centimeters in diameter. There are eight low ribs. The individual central spine is up to 1 centimeter long. The approximately 10 spread out marginal spines are also up to 1 centimeter long.

The red flowers are up to 4 centimeters long. They appear in groups near the tips of the shoots or sometimes on the sides of the shoots.

Distribution
Corryocactus apiciflorus is distributed in the Peruvian regions of La Libertad, Ancash and Ayacucho.

Taxonomy
The first description as Cereus apiciflorus was made in 1913 by Friedrich Karl Johann Vaupel. The specific epithet apiciflorus is derived from the Latin words apex for 'tip' and -florus for '-flowered' and refers to the flowers that mainly appear at the tips of the shoots. Paul Clifford Hutchison placed the species in the genus Corryocactus in 1963. A nomenclature synonym is Erdisia apiciflora (Vaupel) Werderm. (1940).