Cereus hexagonus

Cereus hexagonus or lady of the night cactus is a species of columnar cactus found in northern South America.^[2]

Cereus hexagonus
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Genus:	Cereus
Species:	C. hexagonus
Binomial name
Cereus hexagonus (L.) Mill. 1768.
Synonyms
Acanthocereus thalassinus (Otto & A.Dietr.) Borg, Cacti 133. 1937. Cactus regalis Spreng., Syst. Veg. 2: 496. 1825. Cephalocereus perlucens (K.Schum.) Borg, Cacti, ed. 2, 144. 1951. Cereus horridus Otto ex Pfeiff., Allg. Gartenzeitung 5: 370. 1837. Cereus horridus var. alatosquamatus Werderm., Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 12: 452. 1935. Cereus lepidotus Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck., ed. 2, 207. 1850. Cereus karstenii Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. ed. 2: 218. 1850. Cereus lepidotus Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. ed. 2: 207. 1850. Cereus longiflorus Alexander, Lloydia 2: 199. 1939. Cereus northumberlandianus Lambert in Loud., Gard. Mag. 91. 1841. Cactus octogonus Page ex Steud., Nomencl. ed. vol. 2, 246. 1840. Cereus perlucens K.Schum., Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 173. 1900. Cereus perrottetii Pfeiff., Enum. Diagn. Cact. 98. 1837. Cereus regalis Haw. ex Spreng., Syst. Veg. 2: 496. 1825. Cereus thalassinus Otto & A.Dietr., Allg. Gartenzeitung 6: 34. 1838. Cereus thalassinus var. quadrangularis C.F.Först., Handb. Cacteenk. 399. 1846. Pilocereus perlucens (K.Schum.) Werderm., Bras. Saulenkakt. 112. 1933. Pilosocereus perlucens (K.Schum.) Byles & G.D.Rowley, Cact. Succ. J. Gr. Brit. 19: 67. 1957. Piptanthocereus lepidotus (Salm-Dyck) Backeb., Blätt. Kakteenf. Pt. 12 (p. 7). 1934

Description

Cereus hexagonus grows like a tree with erect shoots that branch out from near the base and can reach heights of growth of up to 15 metres. The cylindrical, segmented, glaucous light green shoots have a diameter of up to 12 centimeters and more. There are four to seven thin, wavy ribs that are 3 to 5 centimeters high. The areoles on it are small. The thorns are missing on young shoots or there are only a few. Older shoots have 8 to 10 or more unequal spines per areole. The initially brown thorns become lighter later. They are 5 to 6 centimeters long.

The white flowers are 20 to 25 centimeters long. The 5.5 to 13 centimeters long, egg-shaped fruits are light red. They contain white or pink flesh.

Distribution

Cereus hexagonus is distributed in Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, Venezuela and northerm Brazil.^[2]

The species is classified as Least Concern (LC) in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.^[1]

Taxonomy

The first description as Cactus hexagonus was published in 1753 by Linnaeus in his work Species Plantarum.^[3] Philip Miller placed the species in the genus Cereus in 1768.