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Acanthocereus tetragonus

Botanic Family

Cactaceae

Author

(Linnaeus) Hummelinck

Propagation

S.

Cultivated

C.

Conservation Status

Endangered

Common Names

• Pitajaia
• Cardón de Pitahaya (Colombia)

Geographical Habitats

• Florida
• Texas - U.S.A.
• West Indies
• Jalisco
• Nayarit
• Sinaloa - Mexico
• Venezuela
• Brazil
• Costa Rica
• Cuba
• Dominica
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Panama
• Peru
• Colombia
• Nicaragua

Natural Habitats

• Coastal
• sandy soil
• dry forest. Coastal thickets

Flowering Times

• Jun (Dominica)
• Jun-Oct (Mexico)

Fruiting Times

• Jul-Nov (Mexico)

Erect spiny plant with 3-4-angled stems or arching or clambering to 6m, juvenile stems 6-8 ribbed, mature stems 3-5 ribbed, yellow spines to 60mm long. Night-flowering 250mm x 150mm pale green to yellowish white flowers, tube 40mm long, throat 40mm wide, perianth segments brown or greenish. Red globose spiny fruit covered with large areoles bearing white felt, to 90mm x 80mm, small & long spines at 50mm intervals.

Fruits eaten

Further References

• Bailey 1976
• Huxley 1992
• NYBG
• The Plant List 2
• Botanicus
• Smithsonian
• Exotica
• USNH
• Gleason & Moldenke
• Standley
• Cactaceae
• Mobot