Scientific taxonomy article
Accepted name and nomenclatural record
Kew POWO accepts Cleistocactus strausii with the author citation (Heese) Backeb.; IPNI confirms the first-publication record as “Kakteen-Freund 3: 121 (Nov. 1934)”.12 The native distribution is Tarija, Bolivia. The native range is associated with dry habitats in Tarija; the Canary Islands record is introduced and does not expand the native-range field.
Classification and production boundary
The live lineage is species → Cleistocactus → Cactaceae → Caryophyllales → Plantae. This package owns only the existing species node and its direct Cleistocactus genus relationship; it creates or updates no genus, family, order or kingdom node. An erect columnar body, dense white spine cover, rib and areole pattern, tubular flowers, fruit, seeds and documented provenance should be evaluated together.
Identification cannot be reduced to one product photograph, spine colour or trailing versus columnar habit. Stem orientation, ribs, areoles, spine cover, flowers, fruit, seeds, native range and documented provenance should be evaluated together.3
Synonymy and canonical boundary
The current Kew surface maintains 9 nomenclatural synonym records. The current Kew surface maintains seven homotypic combinations and two heterotypic names. Other white-spined columnar cacti are not automatically strausii. Homotypic names share a nomenclatural type; heterotypic names represent historical opinions based on other types. None creates a separate accepted product, botanical or taxonomy route.
Spine colour, a crested form or one product photograph does not prove accepted identity by itself; other accepted Cleistocactus names are excluded from the canonical synonym set. Synonyms support search and literature retrieval only; names of other accepted species are not moved into this canonical payload.
Range and global conservation
The native distribution is recorded as Tarija, Bolivia.1 Commercial inventory, nursery origin, price and sales frequency are not measures of wild-population status.
The global conservation field is LC.4 The live NE placeholder is replaced with the maintained global IUCN LC. Least Concern is not a rating of care difficulty or commercial abundance.
Editorial ownership boundary
Product name and copy, price, stock, SKU, images, variants, categories, common names, slugs and the product-to-botanical link are not changed by this taxonomy-only source. Live toxicity, difficulty and light enums are carried forward exactly; watering, temperature and soil metrics are omitted from the curated source and preserved from live data.
References
- Plants of the World Online. “Cleistocactus strausii (Heese) Backeb.” Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accessed: 2026-08-07. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A60254-2 ↩
- International Plant Names Index. “Cleistocactus strausii.” Accessed: 2026-08-07. https://www.ipni.org/n/60254-2 ↩
- Lowry, M. “A synopsis of the genus Cleistocactus Lemaire (Cactaceae).” Bradleya 34: 148–186. Accessed: 2026-08-07. https://doi.org/10.25223/brad.n34.2016.a6 ↩
- IUCN Red List. “Cleistocactus strausii global conservation assessment.” Accessed: 2026-08-07. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/152204/121463061 ↩
