Soehrensia thelegonoides

Soehrensia thelegonoides is a species of Soehrensia found in Argentina.

Description
Soehrensia thelegonoides grows as a shrub with prostrate, upright, 3 to 6 meter long shoots. Prostrate parts of the shoots are very thick, upright parts of the shoots grow up to 1 meter high and have a diameter of 5 to 8 centimeters. There are 15 to 16 low and blunt ribs, which are slightly notched but not tuberculated. There is a clear furrow between the small, circular areoles. Yellow to brownish, bristle-like thorns emerge from the areoles and turn gray with age. The four central spines are 0.7 to 1.5 centimeters long. The approximately eleven marginal spines are 0.5 to 0.7 centimeters long.

The funnel-shaped, white, fragrant flowers appear on the sides or near the tips of the shoots and open at night. They are 20 to 24 centimeters long. The spherical to ellipsoidal fruits have a diameter of 4 to 6 centimeters.

Distribution
Soehrensia thelegonoides is common in the Argentine province of Jujuy on dry slopes at altitudes of 500 to 2000 meters.

Taxonomy
The first description as Cereus thelegonoides by Carlos Luis Spegazzini was published in 1905. The specific epithet thelegonoides is derived from the Greek word -oides for 'resemble' and refers to the similarity of the species to Soehrensia thelegona. Boris O. Schlumpberger placed the species in the genus Soehrensia in 2012. Further nomenclature synonyms are Trichocereus thelegonoides (Speg.) Britton & Rose (1920) and Echinopsis thelegonoides (Speg.) H.Friedrich & G.D.Rowley (1974).