Commemorating Walther Haage of Erfurt, well known proprietor of a cactus company.
Body shrubby or tree-like, branching from the base, erect or with prostrate, creeping stems. Ribs numerous. Spines prominent and often attractively coloured on close-set areoles. Flowers nocturnal with thick tube bearing numerous small scales, with few to many hairs in the axils, mostly white or dull brick red; stamens in a single series. Fruit fleshy, spherical with a few scales and hairs and with persistent remains of flower. [Weberbauerocereus]
Three erect species are generally cultivated: H. versicolor (Werderm. & Backeb.) Backeb. from N Peru which has white flowers and stems less than 5 cm wide; H. multangularis (Willd.) F. Ritter [H. chosicensis (Werderm. & Backeb.) Backeb.] from C Peru which has flowers with a straight tube; H. weberbaueri (Vaupel) D. Hunt [Weberbauerocereus johnsonii F. Ritter] from S Peru, which has flowers of a similar colour but with a distinctly curving tube.
Less frequently cultivated species include H. aureispinus Rauh & Backeb. from Peru, is a columnar plant with 18-20 ribs and yellowish spines; and H. decumbens (Vaupel) Backeb. from S Peru which has more or less creeping stems.
10-15 true species native to the deserts of Peru and N Chile.
Source: (1997). Cactaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
