Acanthocereus tetragonus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Cactaceae |
Subfamily: | Cactoideae |
Genus: | Acanthocereus |
Species: | A. tetragonus
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Binomial name | |
Acanthocereus tetragonus (L.) Hummelinck
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Synonyms | |
Acanthocereus pentagonus (L.) Britton & Rose |
Acanthocereus tetragonus is a species of cactus that is native to Florida and the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. The species is invasive in New Caledonia.[4] Common names include night-blooming cereus,[5] barbed-wire cactus,[2] sword-pear,[2] dildo cactus,[6] triangle cactus,[2] and Órgano-alado de pitaya (Spanish).[3] The miniature cultivar is known as fairy castle cactus. It was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Cactus tetragonus but was moved to the genus Acanthocereus in 1938 by Pieter Wagenaar Hummelinck.[2]