Cactus for ID

[PalmatierMeg]

In early March I bought this gorgeous, fuzzy blue columnar cactus at a sale in Cape Coral. I believe it might be a Pilosocereus but what species? My research has come up with no Pilosocereus that comes close to it. Will a cactus guru tell me what it is?

 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, PalmatierMeg said:

In early March I bought this gorgeous, fuzzy blue columnar cactus at a sale in Cape Coral. I believe it might be a Pilosocereus but what species? My research has come up with no Pilosocereus that comes close to it. Will a cactus guru tell me what it is?

 

Not 100% certain but most likely Pilocereus pachycladus. ( Most common / 2nd most commonly found Pilo. sp. in cacti collections. Other more obscure sp. are apparently harder to find, even among some of the specialty cacti growers i have bought from, who often focus on rarer stuff. )  Have a small P. azureus which typically is less fuzzy, and starkly Silvery Blue in comparison ( at least what i have observed ).  When i adopted it ( had broken off one of the plants we'd received ) we had ordered / received both sp. from the wholesaler. I almost bought one of the  pachycladus also at that time.. Love em both..   Well grown specimen too.

[Geoff]

There are quite a few Pilosocereus and some are quite variable... one of the more fuzzy species is P ulei.  Might be that... certainly seems a tad too fuzzy for pachycladus, and not blue enough.

[SilverDragon]

It is a Pilosocereus, but not pachycladus...looks more like leucocephalus with the shorter spines, denser wool, and wider ribs; pachycladus tends to have longer yellowish spines and almost no fuzz.

Edited April 5, 2019 by SilverDragon

[Cactember]

My first guess is in agreement for P. Leucocephalus, with all of that trademark Santa Claus wool for that species on dark blue-green skin with rusty-amber needle color.  It is less common in cultivation than P. Pachycladus but frequently encountered for sale online.  My P. Royenii (pictured with P. Pachycladus in left background) is very similar with short rusty-amber needle color and dark skin but with a touch more green and a lot less wool along the whole stem.  How is your cactus doing now?  I lived in Estero until recently but never tried putting any of my species of Pilosocereus in the powder sand ground.  Driftwood Garden Center in Estero has a lot of uncommon cacti including gems of this genus, and at a good price.  

[JubaeaMan138]

How did I miss this definetly leucocephalus !!!! Not blue enough like stated before for pachycladus