Espostoa mirabilis (Espostoa mirabilis)
Description
Espostoa mirabilis is a species in the genus Espostoa of the cactus family(Cactaceae). The specific epithet means 'admirable', 'amazing', 'enchanting' and refers to the appearance of the species. Espostoa mirabilis grows shrubby to tree-shaped and reaches heights of growth of 2 to 4 meters. The cylindrical, densely spined shoots measure up to 9 centimeters in diameter and are covered at the shoot tip with dense white wool. There are 16 to 25 notched ribs on which are closely spaced areoles . The usually single, gray central spine , which may be absent, has a fox-red tip and is 2 to 5 inches (rarely to 7 inches) long. Occasionally, it is much shorter and resembles the marginal spines. The approximately 40 fine-needle, foxred edge thorns have a length of 4 to 7 millimeters. The up to 2 meters long cephalium is golden brown to reddish brown. The white flowers are up to 5.5 inches long. The blood-red, slightly tapered to their base fruits have a length of 1.5 to 3 inches and a diameter of 1.5 to 2 inches.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Caryophyllales
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Family: Cactaceae
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Genus: Espostoa
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