Hylocereus

(A. Berger) Britton & Rose

Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 12: 428. 1909.

Common names: Night-blooming cereus
Etymology: Greek hyle, forest, and Cereus, the genus from which this segregate was removed
Basionym: Cereus subsect. Hylocer eus A. Berger Rep. (Annual) Missouri Bot. Gard. 16: 78. 1905
Synonyms: Wilmattea Britton & Rose
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Treatment on page 175. Mentioned on page 96, 152.
 TaxonIllustrator 
FNA4 P30 Hylocereus undatus.jpegHylocereus undatus
Selenicereus grandiflorus
Epiphyllum phyllanthus var. hookeri
John Myers
John Myers
John Myers

Shrubs, epiphytic, hemiepiphytic, or epipetric, straggling, climbing, scandent, or pendent, irregularly many branched. Roots diffuse, often adventitious along stem internodes. Stems segmented, green, blue-green, gray-green, or somewhat whitish with wax; segments elongate, 3-winged or angled, length highly variable, 10–500+ × [1–] 4–7.5 [–10] cm, distinctly narrowed proximally, glabrous; ribs (2–) 3 (–5), winglike to narrowly triangular in cross-section, rib crests straight to undulate, crenate [toothed, notched, or lobed], often with a line of hard, brown to gray bark between areoles; areoles (10–) 35–50 mm apart along ribs, oval, short woolly, sometimes subtended by minute, vestigial leaves at growing stem tip; areolar glands inconspicuous; cortex and pith mucilaginous. Spines 0–4 [–8] per areole, whitish or yellowish to brownish [blackish or red, aging gray], acicular [awl-shaped or hairlike], straight, terete, generally short, 0–4 [–10] mm, hard, bases sometimes conic or swollen, smooth, glabrous; radial and central spines not distinguishable. Flowers nocturnal, lateral to subterminal on 1+-year-old stems, at adaxial edges of areoles, long tubed, funnelform, [3–] 25–29 [–38] × [8–] 15–25 [–30] cm; outermost tepals often greenish, yellow, pink, or occasionally purplish red or white, 10–15 × 1–1.5 cm, margins entire; inner tepals white to cream [rarely pinkish or red], 10–15 × 1.5–2.5 cm, margins entire; ovary tuberculate [to smooth], scaly, spineless, usually without hairs or wool; scales triangular, broad, thick conspicuous, to 25 mm; stigma lobes to 24, white. Fruits irregularly dehiscent along 1 side, red [to purple or magenta], oblong to ovoid or spheric, [20–] 50–125 × 40–120 mm, fleshy, spineless; pulp white; scales persistent, green, triangular, conspicuous, thick and fleshy, to 4+ cm; floral remnant often persistent. Seeds black, [elongate or] pyriform [to reniform], 2–3 mm, glossy; testa smooth or minutely textured. x = 11.

Distribution

Introduced; subtropical and tropical regions of Mexico, West Indies, Central America, n South America

Discussion

Species 18 (1 in the flora).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

"thick" is not a number. "thick" is not a number. "broad" is not a number.

... more about "Hylocereus"
cushionlike +
circular to linear +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
Michael W. Hawkes +
(A. Berger) Britton & Rose +
brown;gray +
swollen +  and conic +
Cereus subsect. Hylocer +
triangular +
not distinguishable +
proliferating +
flattened +  and cylindric +
Night-blooming cereus +
mucilaginous +
subtropical and tropical regions of Mexico +, West Indies +, Central America +  and n South America +
not separating +
Greek hyle, forest, and Cereus, the genus from which this segregate was removed +
29 cm290 mm <br />0.29 m <br /> (38 cm380 mm <br />0.38 m <br />) +
25 cm250 mm <br />0.25 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
25 cm250 mm <br />0.25 m <br /> (29 cm290 mm <br />0.29 m <br />) +
lateral +  and subterminal +
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 />) +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (25 cm250 mm <br />0.25 m <br />) +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
persistent +, long +  and deciduous +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (12.5 cm125 mm <br />0.125 m <br />) +
oblong +  and ovoid or spheric +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (12 cm120 mm <br />0.12 m <br />) +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
1.5cm;2.5cm +
deciduous +  and persistent +
flat +  and terete +
minute +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
tuberculate +
fluted;spheric;depressed-spheric or club-shaped +
white +, purplish red +, pink +, yellow +  and greenish +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
tuberculate +
deciduous +  and persistent +
mucilaginous +
ridgelike +  and nipple--shaped +
Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. +
crenate +  and undulate +
winglike +  and narrowly triangular +
adventitious +
persistent +
conspicuous +
triangular +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br />) +
arillate +  and strophiolate +
0.4mm;12mm +
pyriform +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
7.5 cm75 mm <br />0.075 m <br /> (10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br />) +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (?) +  and 500 cm5,000 mm <br />5 m <br /> (?) +
narrowed;angled;elongate +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (7.5 cm75 mm <br />0.075 m <br />) +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
yellowish +  and brownish +
straight +
deciduous +  and persistent +
0 (?) +  and 4 (?) +
terete +  and acicular +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
decurrent +
unsegmented +
whitish +, gray-green +, blue-green +  and green +
1+-year-old +
segmented +
succulent +
tuberculate +
Wilmattea +
adventitious +
tuberlike +
epipetric +  and epiphytic +
Hylocereus +
Cactaceae subfam. Cactoideae +
dull +  and glossy +
shrub +, scandent +  and climbing +
epipetric;hemiepiphytic;epipetric;hemiepiphytic;epiphytic +
barrel-shaped +  and spheric +