pitahaya

(Sp. model spelled same [pitája], of Caribbean origin)

   Carlisle: 1848. A generic name for various organ-pipe cacti, especially the Lemaireocereus thurberi (Watts notes that the Mexicans call this plant pitahaya dulce) and the Carnegia gigantea or saguaro, often depicted in illustrations of the Old West and cowboying. Santamaría glosses it as the common name given to several cacti of the genera Cereus, Pachycereus, Lamaireocereus, and others, as well as to the fruit produced by these plants. The cacti are native to tropical regions of the Americas and, similar to the nopal or "prickly pear cactus," grow in prolonged stalks without leaves. Most have three wings and ribs, and the plants are often gigantesque and herbaceous, and are covered with small acicular spines along the ridges of the plant. The spines may be navel-shaped or in small axillary bundles. The flowers of the plant are large and extremely showy. They may be salmon-colored, yellow, or white and generally open only at night and exude a fragrant aroma. They grow on the ends of the stalks, frequently in a tubulated calyx with a corolla formed of wide hanging petals.