Limited in its range to northwestern Mexico and the vicinity of Organ
Pipe Cactus National Monument in southwestern Arizona, this columnar
cactus grows in clumps of spine-covered stems, some of which may be 10
to 15 feet in height, rarely branching, and with no central trunk.
Blossoms open at or near the stem ends during May nights, and close the
following day. The spine-covered fruits, about the size and shape of a
hen’s egg, have long been harvested by the Papago Indians, who boil the
sweet juice to the consistency of syrup and store the pulp and seeds for
winter food. The fruits are locally called _pitahaya dulce_, or sweet
cactus fruit.
_Lemaireocereus thurberi_ Cactus Family
[Illustration: ORGANPIPE CACTUS]