PITAHAYA (Cactus Pitahaya, Lin. Syst. Vegetabilium. Jacquin Amer. 151. ed. 2. p. 75. M. E. Carthagena), a shrub peculiar to California, is a kind of beech, the fruit of which forms the greatest harvest of the natives. Its branches are finely stunted, and rise vertically from the stem, so as to form a very beautiful top. The fruit is like a horse-chestnut. In some white, in others yellow, and in others red, but always exquisitely delicious, being a rich sweet, tempered with a grateful acid. See CACTUS.