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(Last Modified On 11/29/2012)
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(Last Modified On 11/29/2012)
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Species
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HYLOCEREUS POLYRHIZUS (Weber) Britton & Rose
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PlaceOfPublication
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Carnegie Inst. Wash. Publ. No. 248. 2:185. 1920.
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Synonym
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Cereus polyrhizus Weber, in Schum. Gesamtb. Kakteen 151. 1897. Cereus trigonus var. costaricensis Weber, in Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 8 :457. 1902. Hylocereus costaricensis (Weber) Britton & Rose, loc. cit. 186. 1920. Cereus costaricensis (Weber) A. Berger, Kakteen 122. 1929.
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Description
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Succulent shrubby root-climbers, frequently epiphytic, the young stem joints elongate, usually sharply 3-angled, the areoles marginal on the entire or slightly undulate angled, armed with several short stout spines. Flowers very showy, the perianth tube rather stout, 1.0-1.5 dm. long, about 1 cm. in diameter at the base, gradually dilating to a broadly obconic throat about 6 cm. in diameter at the orifice, bearing numerous persistent foliaceous bracts particularly imbricating to- ward the base, the segments gradually spreading, greenish white, the outermost tinged with purple, the inner rather broadly oblanceolate, acuminate, about 1.5-2.0 dm. long; ovary cylindric-ovoid, about 4 cm. long, the persistent foliaceous bracts numerous and imbricate, 1-2 cm. long; stigma lobes entire. Berry oblongoid, about 10 cm. long.
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Habit
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shrub
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Distribution
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Colombia and Panama.
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Note
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"A common species on barren rocks, islets and cliffs along the coast [of San Jose Island], and frequent as an epiphyte, especially on the branches of Bombax quinatum in the interior of the island [I. M. Johnston, in Sargentia 8:217. 1949]."
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Specimen
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PANAMA: San Jose Island, Perlas Archipelago, Johnston I126, Erlanson I72; Old Panama, Rose & Rose i8506.
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Note
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Both Berger and Britton and Rose distinguish H. polyrhizus and H. costaricensis solely upon the thickness of the stem joints, whether (according to Britton & Rose) teonly 3 to 4 cm. thick" or "5 to 10 cm. thick," respectively. The short descrip- tions of Britton and Rose are remarkably similar, differing almost solely in the position of identical adjectives. In this regard, Dr. Johnston's comments, partly quoted above, are very suggestive: "The plant varies in its form and appearance according to its particular habitat. On flat exposed rock surfaces it may be compact in growth, 1-3 dm. tall, and composed of short, stout, decumbent or ascending stems 3-6 cm. thick. Stems dangling from high branches or from the tops of cliffs usually are only 1-3 cm. thick but may become several meters or even more in length. Stems rooted on branches become flattened, as much as 10 cm. broad, and tend to wrap themselves about the support. The plant has typically 3-angled stems, but rarely 4-angled ones may be found." With such testimony, it appears entirely probable that H. polyrhizus and H. costaricensis are conspecific.
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