Xiquexique gounellei
Description:
Xique-xique, or alastrado, is a striking succulent shrub native to Brazil’s dry caatinga scrublands. It grows 2–7m tall, with ribbed green to grayish-green stems covered in golden to grayish spines and fuzzy, beard-like areoles. Mature plants develop woolly flowering patches near the ribs, producing white, tubular flowers that open at night and attract bats and moths. Fast-growing and multi-branched, it thrives in intense sun and rocky, nutrient poor soil, needing little water. Not frost-hardy.
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