Neobuxbaumia polylophaGolden Column Cactus

Neobuxbaumia polylopha is a single-stemmed columnar cactus from a narrow range of canyon country in central Mexico, and it grows straight up: a slender ribbed green column dressed in fine golden spines, reaching 8 metres and more where it is happy.

In a designed landscape its job is vertical punctuation. A row of them along a wall, or one set against a plain elevation, does what no shrub or palm can do at that width.

Specifications

• Height8 to 13 metres in habitat, considerably less and slower in cultivation
• Width0.3 to 0.5 metres
• Native toCentral Mexico
• FoliageLeafless; a ribbed columnar green stem clothed in dense golden-yellow spines
• Growth rateSlow to moderate

Conditions

• SoilRequires sharply drained, gritty, mineral soil; will not tolerate heavy or wet ground
• LightFull sun
• WaterVery low; drought-tolerant and intolerant of overwatering
• ClimateThrives in arid and semi-arid regions with high summer heat; sensitive to frost and to prolonged wet

Additional Features

• FormSlender unbranched column of even diameter, rising vertically without taper
• UsesDesert and xeriscape schemes, architectural accents, courtyards, gravel gardens and raised planters
• SpacingPlant 0.8 to 1.5 metres apart for a colonnade, or singly as an accent
• Low MaintenanceNeeds no pruning and effectively no irrigation once established
• Pest ResistanceUntroubled by pests in a dry, free-draining position
• Drought ToleranceFully adapted to extended drought; the risk is water, not the lack of it
• LongevityVery long-lived, holding form for decades without intervention

The Golden Column Cactus is the cleanest vertical accent available for a desert scheme, and it holds that line without water or maintenance.