Type 4 - Columnar Cactus. Thin or thick, upright tall stems branching from the base or sides of main trunk.

These cactus plants have thick ot thin stems grow very tall and straight. The primary example being the Saguaro cactus from the Sonoran Desert. Many columnar cactus have the name "cereus" meaning candle. Some examples are Pachycereus, Oreocereus, Stenocereus, Trichocereus, Pilosocereus, and Strombocereus. Many have large white bugle shaped flowers that open a night and are polinated by bats. Many species are from Western South America, although there are some from Mexico and Southwest USA.

Columnar cacti have a very large water storage capacity which drastically affects it's variable weight. The weight can vary as much as three times from dry season to monsoon season.

Espostoa lanata	Pilosocereus azureus	Carnegiea gigantea	Stenocereus thurberi