Pilosocereus lanuginosus
| Pilosocereus lanuginosus | |
|---|---|
| In Arikok National Park, Aruba | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cactoideae |
| Genus: | Pilosocereus |
| Species: | P. lanuginosus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Pilosocereus lanuginosus (L.) Byles & G.D.Rowley[1]
| |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
List
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Pilosocereus lanuginosus is a species of flowering plant in the cactus family Cactaceae, native to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao in the Leeward Islands.[1][2] It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Cactus lanuginosus.[3]
Description
Pilosocereus lanuginosus has bluish to greenish stems that are strongly glaucous and have 9–13 ribs. Its branches are usually ascending, sometimes completely upright. The areoles have rigid spines up to 3 cm (1.2 in) long that are golden yellow when young. They often spread and overlap. Flowering areoles have silky hairs up to 3 cm (1.2 in) long in dense tufts. Non-flowering areoles have few hairs. The flowers are 5–7 cm (2.0–2.8 in) long, with glaucous green outer segments (tepals) and white inner segments. The fruit is red.[2]
Taxonomy
The name Cactus lanuginosus was first published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753,[4] accompanied by a short description. Linnaeus referred to a description and illustration in Hermann's Paradisus batavus of 1698.[5] The illustration was designated as the lectotype in 1994. The origin of the illustrated plant was given as Curaçao. The epithet lanuginosus refers to the tufts of silky hairs. The species was later transferred to Cereus and Pilocereus (an illegitimate synonym of Cephalocereus) before being placed in Pilosocereus in 1957.[2]
Some species accepted as of June 2025, including P. colombianus, P. moritzianus, and P. tillianus, have been treated as synonyms of P. lanuginosus. They can be distinguished by various morphological features.[2]
Distribution
Pilosocereus lanuginosus is native to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao in the Leeward Islands.[1][2] Bonaire and Curaçao together are treated as the Netherlands Antilles in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d "Pilosocereus lanuginosus (L.) Byles & G.D.Rowley", Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2025-06-12
- ^ a b c d e Franck, Alan R.; Barrios, Duniel; Campbell, Keron C. St. E.; Lange, James; Peguero, Brígido; Santiago-Valentín, Eugenio; Rigerszki, Zoltán; Haakonsson, Jane; Gann, George D.; Cinea, William; Howe, Natalie M. M.; St. John, James; Moreno, Juan Sebastián & Clark, Cynthia A. (2019). "Revision of Pilosocereus (Cactaceae) in the Caribbean and northern Andean region". Phytotaxa. 411 (3): 129–182. Bibcode:2019Phytx.411..129F. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.411.3.1.
- ^ "Pilosocereus lanuginosus (L.) Byles & G.D.Rowley", The International Plant Names Index, retrieved 2025-06-12
- ^ "Cactus lanuginosus L.", International Plant Names Index (IPNI), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens, retrieved 2025-06-24
- ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1753), "Cactus lanuginosus", Species Plantarum (in Latin), vol. 1, Stockholm, Sweden: Laurentius Salvius, p. 467, retrieved 2025-06-24
- ^ Brummitt, R. K. (2001), World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (PDF) (2nd ed.), International Working Group on Taxonomic Databases For Plant Sciences (TDWG), archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-25, retrieved 2021-07-27, p. 128