The Hylocereeae are a tribe of

cacti 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 ...

. Most are found in the tropical forests of

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, and are climbers or

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

s, unlike most cacti. The tribe includes between six and eight genera in different circumscriptions. The plants known as "

epiphyllum hybrid Epiphyllum hybrids, epiphyllums, epicacti, or just epis, also known as orchid cacti, which are widely grown for their flowers, are artificial hybrids of species within the group of cacti placed in the tribe Hylocereeae. In spite of the common nam ...

s" or "epiphyllums", widely grown for their flowers, are hybrids of species within this tribe, particularly ''

Disocactus ''Disocactus'' is a genus of epiphytic cacti in the tribe Hylocereeae found in Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. It should not be confused with ''Discocactus'', which is a different genus. Species of ''Disocactus'' g ...

'', ''

Pseudorhipsalis ''Pseudorhipsalis'' is genus of cacti. This genus is often included in ''Disocactus''. It is epiphytic, many branched, and elongated with flattened, serrated cladodes. In its early life, it stands erect, but soon becomes prostrate. It produces n ...

'' and ''

Selenicereus ''Selenicereus'', sometimes known as moonlight cactus, is a genus of epiphytic, lithophytic, and terrestrial cacti, found in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. The term night-blooming cereus is also sometimes use ...

'', less often ''

Epiphyllum ''Epiphyllum'' (; "upon the leaf" in Greek) is a genus of epiphytic plants in the cactus family (Cactaceae), native to Central America and South America. Common names for these species include climbing cacti, orchid cacti and leaf cacti, though ...

'', in spite of the common name.

Description

The members of the tribe are very variable in their morphology, especially when the terrestrial ''Acanthocereus'' is included. Many species form aerial roots. The hylocereoid clade (''Selenicereus'', ''Weberocereus'' and probably ''Aporocactus'') are mostly climbing or

epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

, and have spiny ribbed stems. The phyllocactoid clade (''Epiphyllum'', ''Disocactus'', ''Kimnachia'' and ''Pseudorhipsalis'') are mainly epiphytic, and have spineless flattened leaf-like stems. Flowers and

pollination syndrome Pollination syndromes are suites of flower traits that have evolved in response to natural selection imposed by different pollen vectors, which can be abiotic (wind and water) or biotic, such as birds, bees, flies, and so forth through a process c ...

s are equally diverse, ranging from large white nocturnal flowers to bright red flowers opening in the daytime.

Taxonomy

The group was first identified by Britton and Rose in 1920 as the subtribe Hylocereinae of the tribe Cereeae (subtribe Hylocereanae of tribe Cereanae in their terminology). In 1958, Buxbaum revised the subtribe Hylocereinae, placing it in a newly created tribe Hylocereeae, which included four other subtribes, some containing genera removed from Hylocereinae, others containing different genera. The International Cactaceae Systematics Group classification, based on Barthlott & Hunt (1993), recognized six genera within the tribe. Subsequent studies suggested a number of changes, for example including ''Acanthocereus'' in the tribe and excluding ''Strophocactus'' (which had been sunk into ''Selenicereus''). It was also shown that ''Hylocereus'' was nested within ''Selenicereus''. A major

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study of the tribe was published in 2017. The lefthand cladogram below shows the relationships obtained (using the authors' circumscriptions of the genera and tribe). A 2020 phylogenetic study, which also included morphological features of the stem, produced the righthand cladogram below. This resolved the position of ''Aporocactus'', placing it within the hyloceroid clade, but left relationships within the phyllocactoid clade unresolved. The authors of the 2017 study proposed revised circumscriptions of some of the genera and of the tribe to make them

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

according to their molecular phylogeny: *''Acanthocereus'', which had been included in Hylocereeae by some earlier authors, but also in Echinocereeae, Pachycereeae and Phyllocacteae, was expanded to include ''

Peniocereus ''Peniocereus'' is a genus of vining cactus, cacti, comprising about 18 species, found from the southwestern United States and Mexico. They have a large underground tuber, thin and inconspicuous stems. Its name comes from the prefix ''penio-'' ( ...

'' subg. ''Pseudoacanthocereus'', and restored to Hylocereeae. *''Aporocactus'' was separated again from ''Disocactus''. *''Selenicereus'' was expanded to include part of ''Weberocereus'' and the whole of ''Hylocereus'', which was nested within it. '' Strophocactus wittii'', which had been included in ''Selenicereus'', was excluded from the Hylocereeae altogether, along with the genus ''

Deamia ''Deamia'' is a genus of Cactus, cacti. Its species are native from south Mexico through Central America to Nicaragua. Its species have been placed in ''Selenicereus'' and ''Strophocactus''. Description Species of ''Deamia'' are climbing or pende ...

'', containing two species that had been placed in either ''Strophocactus'' or ''Selenicereus''. *To maintain the monophyly of ''Pseudorhipsalis'', ''Pseudorhipsalis ramulosa'' was moved to a new genus, ''Kimnachia'', as ''

Kimnachia ramulosa ''Kimnachia'' is a monotypic genus of cacti. Its only species is ''Kimnachia ramulosa'', synonym ''Pseudorhipsalis ramulosa'', which is native from southern Mexico to northern South America and also found in Jamaica. Description ''Kimnachia r ...

''. The table below compares the 1993 and 2017 classifications.

Genera

The tribe Hylocereeae includes eight genera in the 2017 classification by Korotkova et al. *''

Acanthocereus ''Acanthocereus'' is a genus of cactus, cacti. Its species take the form of shrubs with arching or climbing stems up to several meters in height. The generic name is derived from the Greek language, Greek word ''άκανθα'' (''acantha''), me ...

'' (Engelm. ex A.Berger) Britton & Rose (13 species) *''

Aporocactus ''Aporocactus'' is a genus of cacti in the tribe Hylocereeae native to Mexico. It used to be classified as a subgenus in ''Disocactus'', but according to molecular evidence, it should be excluded from ''Disocactus'' and treated as a separate ge ...

'' Lem. (2 species) *''

'' Lindl. (15 species) *''

'' Haw. (10 species) *''

Kimnachia ''Kimnachia'' is a monotypic genus of cacti. Its only species is ''Kimnachia ramulosa'', synonym ''Pseudorhipsalis ramulosa'', which is native from southern Mexico to northern South America and also found in Jamaica. Description ''Kimnachia r ...

'' S.Arias & N.Korotkova (1 species) *''

'' Britton & Rose (5 species) *''

'' (A.Berger) Britton & Rose (31 species) *''

Weberocereus ''Weberocereus'' is genus of cacti. It produces a green and white flower and is found mainly in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Description The species of the genus ''Weberocereus'' grows climbing or hanging, epiphytic or lithophytic. Their shoots, whi ...

'' Britton & Rose (6 species) , the acceptance of some of these genera varied. For example,

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

accepted ''Aporocactus'' and the sinking of ''Hylocereus'' into ''Selenicereus'', but did not accept ''Kimnachia''. The Cactaceae Vol II, plate XVI filtered.jpg, ''

Acanthocereus tetragonus ''Acanthocereus tetragonus'', is a species of cactus that is native to Florida and the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. The species is invasive in New Cal ...

'' flower (right), '' A. subinermis'' flower and fruit (left) Disocactus martianus 001.jpg, ''

Aporocactus martianus ''Aporocactus martianus'' (syn. ''Disocactus martianus'') is a species of cactus found in Oaxaca, Mexico. Description ''Disocactus martianus'' grows creeping, occasionally forming lithophytic with aerial roots. It is a species of fleshy, cylind ...

'' Disocactus biformis (Phyllocactus biformis) 1.34.jpg, ''

Disocactus biformis ''Disocactus'' is a genus of epiphytic cacti in the tribe Hylocereeae found in Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. It should not be confused with '' Discocactus'', which is a different genus. Species of ''Disocactus'' ...

'' Epiphyllum hookeri96449466.jpg, ''

Epiphyllum hookeri ''Epiphyllum hookeri'' is a species of climbing cactus in the ''Epiphyllum'' genus. It forms showy white flowers and is native from Mexico through Central America to Venezuela. A perennial, it was introduced to Florida and some West Indies, West ...

'' Pseudorhipsalis ramulosa1UME.jpg, ''

'' Pseudorhipsalis himantoclada kz01.jpg, ''

Pseudorhipsalis himantoclada ''Pseudorhipsalis'' is genus of cactus, cacti. This genus is often included in ''Disocactus''. It is epiphytic, many branched, and elongated with flattened, serrated cladodes. In its early life, it stands erect, but soon becomes prostrate. It pro ...

'' Selenicereus spinulosus Tafel53 Cereus.png, ''

Selenicereus spinulosus ''Selenicereus spinulosus'' is a cactus species native to eastern Mexico and, possibly, the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States. Common names include vine-like moonlight cactus and spiny moon cereus. Its specific name, ''spinu ...

'' WeberocereusRosei3UE.jpg, '' Weberocereus rosei''

Distribution

''Selenicereus'' is the largest genus in the tribe, and is native from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

though

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

into

as far as Northeast Argentina. Other genera have a more restricted distribution within this area; for example, the two species of ''Aporocactus'' are native to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

References

External links

* * * www.epiphyllums.org {{Taxonbar, from=Q781660 Caryophyllales tribes