Acanthocereus

(Engelmann ex A. Berger) Britton & Rose

Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 12: 432. 1909.

Etymology: Greek akantha, thorn, and Cereus, a genus of cacti
Basionym: Cereus subsect. Canthocereus Engelmann ex A. Berger Rep. (Annual) Missouri Bot. Gard. 16: 77. 1905
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Treatment on page 154. Mentioned on page 96, 152.
 TaxonIllustrator 
FNA4 P26 Consolea corallicola.jpegConsolea corallicola
Harrisia aboriginum
Acanthocereus tetragonus
John Myers
John Myers
John Myers

Shrubs, erect to arching, clambering, or climbing, often sparingly branched, sometimes forming impenetrable thickets. Roots diffuse, adventitious where arching stems touch soil. Stems segmented or unsegmented, green, greatly elongate, angled, 30–400 [–700] × (4–) 6–10 cm; ribs 3–5 [–7], narrowly triangular to winglike, very prominent, 3–5 cm deep, less than 1 cm thick, rib crests undulate; areoles widely spaced, located next to sinuses, 2–5 cm apart along ribs, circular to oval, short woolly. Spines [0–] 4–10 per areole, diffusely spreading, brown or reddish [white, yellowish, or black], aging gray, ± straight, acicular to subulate, terete or somewhat flattened, longest spines 10–40 [–70] mm, hard; radial spines [0–] 6–8 per areole, 5–25 mm; central spines [0–] 1–2 [–4] per areole, 0–40 mm. Flowers nocturnal, lateral to terminal on stems 1 or more years old, at adaxial edge of areoles, funnelform, [11–] 14–20 [–25] cm; outer tepals green or purple-tinged, lanceolate-linear, 3–5 × 1 cm; inner tepals white, broadly linear to narrowly oblanceolate, 5–15 × 1–4 cm, margins entire or minutely denticulate; ovary minutely scaly, spiny [spineless], with short wool; stigma lobes 10–15, white, to 12 mm. Fruits indehiscent or irregularly dehiscent longitudinally, red to red-purple, spheric, ovoid, ellipsoid, oblong, or pyriform, 30–80 [–120] mm, fleshy or juicy [tough in A. columbianus], scaly, spiny [or spineless]; scales deciduous; pulp red; floral remnant persistent. Seeds black, broadly obovoid, to 4.8 mm, smooth and shiny; testa cells flat. x = 11.

Distribution

se United States, Mexico, West Indies, Central America, n and e South America

Discussion

Species 6 (1 in the flora).

Acanthocereus needs critical taxonomic study. E. F. Anderson (2001) followed W. Barthlott and D. R. Hunt (1993) in recognizing six species; other accounts have recognized up to twelve species or as few as two (A. tetragonus and A. occidentalis Britton & Rose).

... more about "Acanthocereus"
cushionlike +
apart +  and spaced +
circular to linear +
deciduous +  and persistent +
circular +  and oval +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
Bruce D. Parfitt +  and Arthur C. Gibson +
(Engelmann ex A. Berger) Britton & Rose +
hardened +
Cereus subsect. Canthocereus +
triangular +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br />) +
proliferating +
flattened +  and cylindric +
se United States +, Mexico +, West Indies +, Central America +  and n and e South America +
not separating +
Greek akantha, thorn, and Cereus, a genus of cacti +
20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br /> (25 cm250 mm <br />0.25 m <br />) +
lateral +  and terminal +
tubular +, urceolate +  and salverform +
14 cm140 mm <br />0.14 m <br /> (20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br />) +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br /> (12 cm120 mm <br />0.12 m <br />) +
red;red-purple +
dehiscent +  and indehiscent +
persistent +, long +  and deciduous +
pyriform +, oblong +, ellipsoid +, ovoid +  and spheric +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br />) +
juicy +  and fleshy +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
broadly linear +  and narrowly oblanceolate +
deciduous +  and persistent +
rudimentary +
flat +  and terete +
nearly +  and microscopic +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
tuberculate +
fluted;spheric;depressed-spheric or club-shaped +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (7 cm70 mm <br />0.07 m <br />) +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br />) +
denticulate +  and entire +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
ridgelike +  and nipple--shaped +
Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. +
hunt1991a +
prominent +
narrowly triangular +  and winglike +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
adventitious +
deciduous +
triangular +
arillate +  and strophiolate +
0.4mm;12mm +
obovoid +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.48 cm4.8 mm <br />0.0048 m <br />) +
gray +, reddish +  and brown +
straight +
deciduous +  and persistent +
6 (?) +  and 8 (?) +
flattened +, terete +, acicular +  and subulate +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
hard +  and rigid +
decurrent +
unsegmented +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br /> (400 cm4,000 mm <br />4 m <br />) +
angled +, elongate +  and segmented +
succulent +
6cm;10cm +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br />) +
tuberculate +
adventitious +
tuberlike +
epipetric +  and epiphytic +
Acanthocereus +
Cactaceae subfam. Cactoideae +
dull +  and glossy +
impenetrable +
shrub +  and climbing +
epiphytic;epiphytic;epiphytic +
clambering +, erect +  and arching +
barrel-shaped +  and spheric +