Expert: Greg Simpson - 8/14/2007

Question
I need help identifying a weird cactus I got from a friend as a gift.
It ws supossedly collected in Mexico, and it looks like a tall stick with lots of "branches" sticking out horizontally from it, completely straight and with lots of thorns. I had never seen a cactus like this before, and I tried to find out what species it was, but to date, only one person recognized it, and told me it was a "percha del diablo", but I couldn´t find any information on such a name.

I hope you can help me identify this thing. (It is about 6 feet tall, I have it on the garden).

Best regards

Answer
J,

If possible, send me a photo to greg8365@hotmail.com. However, it sounds like a Idria columnaris. If it was collected from Mexico, that is illegal as this plant is protected. They can be purchased legally in the US from nurseries and are grown from seed. But chances are if yours is 6 feet tall it is probably quite old. Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Greg