Acanthocereus
From Freepedia
| Acanthocereus | ||||||||||||||||
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| Image:Acanthocereus pentagonus2.jpg Acanthocereus tetragonus | ||||||||||||||||
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Acanthocereus baxaniensis (Cuba)</br> Acanthocereus colombianus (Colombia)</br> Acanthocereus horridus (southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador)</br> Acanthocereus occidentalis (southern Sonora to Guerrero, Mexico)</br> Acanthocereus subinermis (Oaxaca, Mexico)</br> Acanthocereus tetragonus - Barbed-wire Cactus (Florida, Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, northern South America)</br> |
Acanthocereus (published in 1909) is a genus of cacti. Its species take the form of shrubs with arching or climbing stems up to several meters in height.
The six species occur in the tropical Americas from the southern tip of Florida to Colombia, including islands of the Caribbean.
Stems have 3-5 ribs, typically thin, with stout spines. The white funnel-shaped flowers are night-opening, 12-25cm long and 6-12 cm in diameter.
Acanthocereus tetragonus, commonly known as Barbed-wire Cactus, chaco, nun-tsusuy, or órgano, is the most widespread of the genus and the largest, ranging from 2-7 meters tall.
The name was first used by George Engelmann in 1863, although he did not describe its characters, leaving it to Alwin Berger in 1905 to define it as a subsection of Cereus. In 1909, Nathaniel Britton and Joseph Rose elevated Acanthocereus to a genus.
Synonymy
The 2 genera Dendrocereus Britton & Rose and Monvillea Britton & Rose have been brought into synonymy.
Reference
- Edward F. Anderson, The Cactus Family (Timber Press, 2001), pp. 106-108
