Origin and Habitat: Endemic of Magdalena Island and Llano de la Magdalena, Baja Caifornia
Habitat: On sandy plains and coastal sand dunes

• Stenocereus eruca (Brandegee) A.C.Gibson & K.E.Horak
• Cereus eruca Brandegee
• Lemaireocereus eruca (Brandegee) Britton & Rose
• Machaerocereus eruca (Brandegee) Britton & Rose
• Rathbunia eruca (Brandegee) P.V.Heath

• Stenocereus eruca (Brandegee) A.C.Gibson & K.E.Horak
• Cereus eruca Brandegee
• Lemaireocereus eruca (Brandegee) Britton & Rose
• Machaerocereus eruca (Brandegee) Britton & Rose
• Rathbunia eruca (Brandegee) P.V.Heath

• Stenocereus eruca f. cristata
• Machaerocereus eruca f. cristata

Description: This is one of strangest of all cacti with strongly armed prostrate stems except for their slightly raised tips. They grow about up to 3 m long, 4-8 cm in diameter and take root as they creep, ramifying further and eventually covering a huge area. Sometimes plants separate from the parent stem and spread out around it, leaving it to die. Stems have 12 ribs; large areoles, 2 cm apart; 1 central and flat spine much wider than the others, 3 cm long, and around 20 light grey or whitish radials of unequal length. Outer ones are short and subulate; inner ones are larger and flat.

Bibliography: Major references and further lectures
1) Edward F. Anderson “The Cactus Family” Timber Press, 2001
2) James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey “The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification of Plants Cultivated in Europe, Both Out-of-Doors and Under Glass” Cambridge University Press, 11/Aug/2011
3) David Hunt, Nigel Taylor “The New Cactus Lexicon” DH Books, 2006 ISBN 0953813444, 9780953813445
4) Walther Haage “Kakteen von A bis Z” Neumann Verlag, 1981

Cultivation and Propagation: This plant, which is seldom cultivated, needs very sandy soil and should be placed in a semiprostrate position so that it may creep.
Propagation: Propagation is usually by cuttings or seed