TORCH CACTUS

any of several ribbed, cylindrical cacti, in the family Cactaceae, native to South America. Trichocereus spachianus has erect columnar stems, branching at the base and rising to about 2 metres (6 feet) in height; they are about 7.5 centimetres (3 inches) thick. It bears fragrant, white, funnel-shaped flowers, up to 20 cm long, which open at night. T. pasacana, a stout tree up to 10.5 m in height, is sometimes called torch cactus. In a loose sense certain cacti of the genus Cereus, among them the well-known saguaro, are referred to as torch cacti for their characteristically large funnel-shaped flowers.