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Echinopsis spachiana

Echinopsis spachiana

H.Friedrich & G.D.Rowley

Family: Cactaceae
Order: Caryophyllales
Class: Magnoliopsida
Phylum / Division: Magnoliophyta
Kingdom: Plantae

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Description


Echinopsis spachiana, synonyms including Soehrensia spachiana and Trichocereus spachianus, commonly known as the golden torch, (white) torch cactus or golden column, is a species of cactus native to South America. It is commonly cultivated as a pot or rockery plant worldwide. It has a columnar habit, with a lime-green cylindrical body with long golden spines.

 Echinopsis spachiana grows as a cactus with a columnar habit, reaching 2 m (7 ft) high, with a diameter of . Vertical branches arise from the base of the plant. Each column has 10–15 rounded ribs. The large areoles are around 1 cm apart, and have wavy yellow hairs. The straight spines are red-yellow initially, fading to white as they age. The central spine is around long, and is surrounded by 8 to 10 smaller radial spines that are in length. The white flowers are 15 cm (6 in) across and long, part of which is an 8 cm long tube. In the northern hemisphere, the flowers appear in June–July and open at night.

Taxonomy: French botanist Charles Antoine Lemaire described the species as Cereus spachianus in 1839, in honour of his countryman Édouard Spach. The type specimen was collected in Argentina, though where in the country is unclear. Alwin Berger erected the subgenus Trichocereus in 1905, incorporating this species. Vincenzo Riccobono elevated Trichocereus to genus status in 1909, and hence it was for many years known as Trichocereus spachianus. The genus encompassed a number of columnar cacti, before being subsumed into Echinopsis. A 2012 genetic analysis of chloroplast DNA indicates Echinopsis is made up of several divergent lineages. E. spachiana was not included in the study but is thought to be related to a Helianthocereus clade. , Plants of the World Online placed it in the genus Echinopsis.

Distribution and habitat: Echinopsis spachiana is native to northwestern Argentina around Icaño and Santiago del Estero province and Bolivia. It has been introduced elsewhere, including Mexico, the Canary Islands, and Spain, and is a declared weed in South Africa.

Source: Wikipedia, article Echinopsis spachiana. Content adapted from Wikipedia, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Accessed on 18/07/2026.





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Species photographs

Count: 1

Foto
Photography ID: 566004
  Adult

Campo Ramón
Misiones
Argentina
02/22/2018
Luis Cesar Tejo


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Species records

Count: 1



Page 1 of 1
Record IDDateExact timeCountryProvince / departmentPlaceFilmedPhotographedRecorded vocalObservedHeardWounded or deadNumber of individualsUser or BibliographyDetail
195245122/02/2018ArgentinaMisionesChacra Mariposa, Campo RamónLuis Cesar Tejo
Page 1 of 1

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Recommended citation
Please use the following reference when citing this species account.
EcoRegistros. 2026. Echinopsis spachiana – Species account. Accessed from www.ecoregistros.org on 16/09/2026.