IDENTIFYING FEATURES
Stem thickness is noticeably fatter and wider columns than PC, often reaching up to 5 inches or more in diameter. A waxy, glaucous, coating gives the skin a distinct pastel blue-green or light green look. Features 4 to 9 broad, smooth, rounded ribs (commonly 6 to 8). Areoles have very tiny, short spines or are completely spineless, especially on newer growth. Produces large, white, nocturnal flowers up to 10 inches across.
ORIGIN
Locality:United States - San Francisco, CA
Origin note:Originally grown by Tom Juul in his San Francisco. Possibly originated from a UC South American Cactus Collection expedition. Kate Jackson held Juul's Giant in her California collection, still pot sized in the 1980s, alongside KK242. Her collection was later preserved by Verne Robinson, which is a plausible route for several Verne-distributed plants trading on the Juul's name. The Huntington accessioned a Trichocereus macrogonus 'Juul's Giant' as HBG 141536 on 26 May 2022, which is the only institutional anchor anywhere in this cluster.
STORY
Juul grew a very large, girthy, near-spineless plant in his San Francisco garden. The plant is presumed, per research by Keeper Trout and others, to have come from a UC South American Cactus Collection expedition. Accounts differ on early distribution: some say Cactus Gem Nursery in the South Bay distributed it first, and that after Juul's death Kakster rescued cuttings before the garden was bulldozed and passed them to friends and customers including Sacred Succulents. Sacred Succulents then spread it worldwide. Trichocereus.net's view is that TJG is likely just a regional Ecuadorian pachanoi type rather than anything uniquely special, and that near-identical plants occur around Lima and Arequipa.
