Selenicereus spinulosus

Taxobox
name = Spiny Moon Cereus


image_caption = Photo: Carlos Velazco
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Caryophyllales
familia = Cactaceae
subfamilia = Cactoideae
tribus = Hylocereeae
genus = "Selenicereus"
species = "S. spinulosus"
binomial = "Selenicereus spinulosus"
binomial_authority = (de Candolle) Britton & Rose
synonyms =
"Cereus spinulosus" de Candolle (1828) Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 17:177
"Selenicereus spinulosus" (de Candolle) Britton & Rose (1909) Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12:43
"Selenicereus pseudospinulosus" Weingart (1931) Monat. Beutsch. Kakt. -Ges. 2:255 in obs.
"Selenicereus viridicarpus" nom. inval.

"Selenicereus spinulosus" is a cactus species native to Mexico and Texas. It is the most easy species to bring to flower in cultivation.

Common names

English: spiny moon cereus, vinelike moonlight cactus

Etymology

Spinulosus (lat.) = spiny. A quite remarkable name on a plant with relatively short spines.

History

This was the third species of "Selenicereus" to be discovered. It was originally collected by Thomas Coulter in 1827, in Mexico, but no locality is known. Pyramus de Candolle received the plant in Paris and descripted it without knowing its flowers. He later sent cuttings to Berlin where it flowered the first time in 1842.

Origin and habitat

E Mexico: Hidalgo, Rio Tonaltogo, Tamaulipas & USA: SE Texas.

ystematics

"Selenicereus spinulosus" is a very variable species, epecially in the size of the flowers which vary from 7-15 cm long. It is most closely related to "Selenicereus atropilosus" and "Selenicereus vagans".

Cultivation

Plants ca 1 m long a capable of flowering. Give half-shade or full sun, and grow in a compost containing plenty of peat. During the growing period this plant needs ample water and regular doses of fertilizer. Fast growing and free flowereing. Can be kept at 5ºC (41ºF) during winter, if kept dry.

Description

Stems scandent, clambering or sprawling, branching, producing aerial roots, stiff, to 1-2(-5) m long, 2-3 cm thick; ribs 4-6 or more, later terete, acute; areoles 1,5-2 mm on Ø, reddish brown at first, later greyish brown, internodes 1,5-2,5 cm; spines 6-8, 1 mm long, acicular, white or yellowish, later blackish, radial spines 5-6 central spines 1-2 , basally 0,25 mm in Ø above the swollen bases, apically attenuate-conical, circular in cross section, the bulbous bases 0,5 mm in Ø, hairlike spines none; epidermis light green, somewhat shining. Flowers produced from areoles near tip, 8-14 cm long, 7-8,5 cm in Ø, nocturnal but stays open for 2 2-3 days (John Ellis, UK), tepals rotate; pericarpel covered with spines, but no hairs, bracteoles small, triangular, reddish; receptacle ca 5 cm long, green, with clusters of 7-12 spines, 4-5 mm long, brownish, but no hairs; outer tepals 5,5-6 cm, narrowly oblong, acute, brownish; inner tepals 7,5 cm, 11mm wide, narrowly oblong, acute, white, sometimes with pink base or pinkish throughout; stamens white, much shorter than inner tepals; style yellow, stigma lobes 9-11. Fruit globular, yellow, covered densely with yellowish spines.

Hybrids

*'Pimiento' (Raised by Sherman E. Beahm in 1955) ("S. spinulosus" × "Disocactus" 'Tulip')Wide open flower of Capsicum red darkening towards the edges. Medium.
*'Sacred Ox' (Dr. Robert Poindexter 1943) ("S. spinulosus" × 'Scarlet Giant') Tepals white with pink and yellow outer tepals.
*'Twinkle' (Dr. Robert Poindexter) ("S. spinulosus" × 'Scarlet Giant') Open wide bloom of salmon orange. Very similar to 'Gloria'.
*'Tululosa' (Beamh 1947) ("S. spinulosus" × "Disocactus" 'Tulip'). Straw-orange edged in lavender. Nocturnal.