Selenicereus pteranthus

Common Name: princess-of-the-night, Snake Cactus

Family: Cactaceae

Common Synonyms: Cereus pteranthus

USDA Hardiness Zone: 9b-11

Growth Habit: Terrestrial to epiphytic, vinelike

Origin: North America-Mexico

FISC Category: 2

FDACS Listed Noxious Weed: No

Introduction Date: Earliest Florida specimen vouchered in 1968

IFAS Assessment:

• North: CAUTION
• Central: CAUTION
• South: CAUTION

Description

Plants terrestrial to epiphytic, vinelike, clambering, pendent. Roots frequently aerial and adventitious. Stems bluish green to purple, to 100-300 × 2.5-5 cm; ribs 4-6, acute; areoles 2-2.5 cm apart along ribs, 1.5-3.0 mm. Spines 1-5, short conic (acicular on immature stems), 1-3 mm; radial and central spines not distinguishable. Flowers 25-30 × 20 cm; outer tepals brown or purplish (or yellow?), narrow; inner tepals white, oblanceolate, apex acute; areoles of ovary and flower tube bearing numerous scales and long, white, hairlike spines. Fruits red, spheric, 45-70 mm diam., hidden by short (to 1 cm), yellowish, bristlelike spines and long, white hairlike spines.

Habitat

Disturbed coastal sites

Comments

NA

Control Methods

• Manual: NA
• Chemical: NA
• Biological: NA

Control Notes

NA

References

IFAS, UF. 2023. Assessment of Non-Native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas. https://assessment.ifas.ufl.edu/assessments/ Accessed August 3, 2023.

Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2023. Atlas of Florida Plants (http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/). [S. M. Landry and K. N. Campbell (application development), USF Water Institute.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

eFloras (2008). Published on the Internet http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242414319 [accessed 7 August 2023] Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.

Dave's Garden. 2023. Selenicereus Species, Night-Blooming Cereus, Princess of the Night, Snake Cactus. https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/83705/ Accessed August 7, 2023.