| Acanthocereus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A. tetragonus flower (right),A. subinermis flower and fruit (left) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cactoideae |
| Tribe: | Hylocereeae |
| Genus: | Acanthocereus (Engelm. exA.Berger)Britton &Rose[1] |
| Type species | |
| Acanthocereus baxaniensis(now a synonym ofAcanthocereus tetragonus) | |
| Species | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Acanthocereus is agenus ofcacti. Its species take the form ofshrubs with arching or climbing stems up to several meters in height. The generic name is derived from theGreek wordάκανθα (acantha), meaning spine,[3] and theLatin wordcereus, meaningcandle.[4] The genus is native to the mostlytropicalAmericas fromTexas and the southern tip ofFlorida to the northern part of South America (Colombia andVenezuela), including islands of theCaribbean.[5]
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The plants form bushes which later usually overhanging or spreading and are rarely tree-shaped. Stems have 3 to 5 ribs, typically thin, with stout spines. The large, white, funnel-shapedflowers are night-opening, 12–25 cm (4.7–9.8 in) long and 6–12 cm (2.4–4.7 in) in diameter and open at night. The little scaly pericarpel and the long, stiff, upright flower tube are covered with a few thorns that soon decay and little wool. The fruits are spherical to ovoid or pear-shaped red or green, bare or thorny, tear-open or non-tear-open and contain broadly oval, shiny black seeds of up to 4.8 millimeter.[citation needed]
The name was first used byGeorge Engelmann in 1863, although he did not describe its characters, leaving it toAlwin Berger in 1905 to define it as a subsection ofCereus. In 1909,Nathaniel Britton andJoseph Nelson Rose elevatedAcanthocereus to a genus.[6]
As of August 2023[update],Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:[5]
| Image | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| Acanthocereus canoensis(P.R.House, Gómez-Hin. & H.M.Hern.) S.Arias & N.Korotkova | Honduras. | |
| Acanthocereus castellae(Sánchez-Mej.) Lodé | Mexico (Jalisco to Guerrero) | |
| Acanthocereus chiapensisBravo | Mexico (Chiapas) to Honduras | |
 | Acanthocereus cuixmalensis(Sánchez-Mej.) Lodé | Mexico (Jalisco to Michoacán) |
| Acanthocereus fosterianus(Cutak) Lodé | Mexico (Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas) | |
| Acanthocereus haackeanusBackeb. ex Lodé | Mexico | |
| Acanthocereus hesperiusD.R.Hunt | Mexico (Oaxaca) | |
| Acanthocereus hirschtianus(K.Schum.) Lodé | Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua | |
| Acanthocereus lempirensisH. Vega, Gómez-Hin. & H.M. Hern. | Honduras | |
| Acanthocereus macdougallii(Cutak) Lodé | Mexico (Oaxaca, Chiapas) | |
| Acanthocereus maculatusWeingart ex Bravo | Mexico | |
| Acanthocereus oaxacensis(Britton & Rose) Lodé | Mexico (Oaxaca) | |
| Acanthocereus paradoxusGonz.-Zam. & Dan.Sánchez | Mexico (Jalisco) | |
| Acanthocereus rosei(J.G.Ortega) Lodé | Mexico (Sinaloa to Michoacán) | |
| Acanthocereus tepalcatepecanus(Sánchez-Mej.) Lodé | Mexico (Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero) | |
 | Acanthocereus tetragonus(L.) Hummelinck | Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua, Panamá, United States (Texas, Florida) Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, |
Species formerly placed in the genus that have been moved to other genera include:
Acanthocereus tetragonus, commonly known as Barbed-wire Cactus, Chaco, Nun-tsusuy, or Órgano, is the most widespread of the genus and the largest, reaching 2–7 m (6.6–23.0 ft) tall.
Media related toAcanthocereus at Wikimedia Commons
Data related toAcanthocereus at Wikispecies