''Harrisia divaricata'' is a species of

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

Description

''Harrisia divaricata'' grows as a shrub up to 1 meter tall with upright, richly branched, slender shoots. There are nine blunt ribs. The four brown central spines are 2 to 2.5 centimeters long. The eight to ten marginal spines are white. The flowers are large and the globose spherical fruits are yellow. Seeds are 1.4–1.65 × 2.05 –2.6 mm.

Distribution

''Harrisia divaricata'' is widespread on

growing in scrublands and scrub forest at 5-400 meters.

Taxonomy

The first description as Cactus divaricatus was made in 1785 by

Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolog ...

. The specific epithet divaricata means 'spread'.

Curt Backeberg Curt Backeberg (2 August 1894 in Lüneburg, Germany – 14 January 1966) was a German horticulturist especially known for the collection and classification of cacti. Biography He travelled extensively through Central and South America, and publis ...

placed the species in the genus ''Harrisia'' in 1960. Further nomenclature synonyms are ''Cereus divaricatus'' (Lam.) DC. (1828), ''Pilocereus divaricatus'' (Lam.) Lem. (1862) and ''Harrisia divaricata'' (Lam.) Lourteig (1991, nom. inval.).

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1586227 divaricata Flora of Haiti Flora of the Dominican Republic Flora without expected TNC conservation status