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''Selenicereus'', sometimes known as moonlight cactus, is a
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
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 ...
,
lithophytic Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are als ...
, and terrestrial
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 ...
, found in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. The term
night-blooming cereus Night-blooming cereus is the common name referring to a large number of flowering ceroid cacti that bloom at night. The flowers are short lived, and some of these species, such as ''Selenicereus grandiflorus'', bloom only once a year, for a s ...
is also sometimes used, but this is also used for many night-blooming cacti, including ''
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 ...
'' and ''
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-'' ( ...
''. In 2017, the genus ''Hylocereus'' was brought into
synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
with ''Selenicereus''. A number of species of ''Selenicereus'' produce fruit that is eaten. The fruit, known as ''
pitaya A pitaya () or pitahaya () is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous to the Americas. Pitaya usually refers to fruit of the genus ''Stenocereus'', while pitahaya or dragon fruit refers to fruit of the genus ''Selenicereus'' ( ...
'' or ''pitahaya'' in Spanish or as dragon fruit, may be collected from the wild or the plants may be cultivated.


Description

Clambering plants with flat to angled stems, producing aerial roots. Areoles may be with or without spines. Flowers are large and nocturnal, pollinated by moths or rarely bats. The receptacle bears small bracts, hairs and usually spines. Fruits bear numerous spines. Flowers are generally produced in abundance with mature plants and are typically white and are very fragrant and only last a single night in most species.


Taxonomy

The
taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
was first described as a section, '' Cereus'' sect. ''Selinicereus'', by
Alwin Berger Alwin Berger (28 August 1871 – 20 April 1931) was a German botanist best known for his contribution to the nomenclature of succulent plants, particularly agaves and cacti. Born in Germany he worked at the botanical gardens in Dresden and Fran ...
in 1905. It was raised to a genus by Britton and Rose in 1909. The name is derived from Σελήνη (''
Selene In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; grc-gre, Σελήνη , meaning "Moon"''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη) is the goddess and the personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter o ...
''), the Greek moon goddess, referring to the nocturnal flowers, and ''cereus'', meaning "candle" in
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, a name used for upright cacti. A
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
Hylocereeae The Hylocereeae are a tribe of cacti. Most are found in the tropical forests of Central and northern South America, and are climbers or epiphytes, unlike most cacti. The tribe includes between six and eight genera in different circumscriptions ...
in 2017 showed that the genus ''Hylocereus'' was nested within ''Selenicereus'', so all the species of ''Hylocereus'' were transferred to ''Selenicereus''. , the transfer was accepted by
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 ...
. The authors of the 2017 study also placed some species of ''Weberocereus'' within ''Selenicereus'', which was not accepted by Plants of the World Online .


Phylogeny

The
cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...
below shows the relationships found in the 2017 study of the tribe Hylocereeae. ''Selenicereus'' belongs to the hylocereoid clade, along with ''Weberocereus''. Members of the clade are mostly climbing or epiphytic, and have spiny ribbed stems, contrasting with members of the phyllocactoid clade, which are mainly epiphytic, and have spineless flattened leaf-like stems.


Species

Species placed in the genus by Korotkova et al. in 2017 are listed below. The list includes three species formerly placed in ''Weberocereus'', whose transfer was not accepted by Plants of the World Online . Species formerly recognized include: *''Selenicereus boeckmannii'' –
synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
of ''Selenicereus pteranthus'' *''Selenicereus brevispinus'' – synonym of ''Selenicereus pteranthus'' *''Selenicereus chontalensis'' – synonym of ''
Deamia chontalensis ''Deamia chontalensis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Cactaceae, native to southwestern Mexico and Guatemala. It has sprawling or pendent branched stems and fragrant white flowers. Description ''Deamia chontalensis'' is either p ...
'' *''Selenicereus coniflorus'' – synonym of ''Selenicereus grandiflorus'' *''Selenicereus hallensis'' – synonym of ''Selenicereus grandiflorus'' *''Selenicereus urbanianus'' – synonym of ''Selenicereus grandiflorus'' *''Selenicereus rubineus'' – synonym of ''Selenicereus inermis'' *''Selenicereus wercklei'' – synonym of ''Selenicereus inermis'' *''Selenicereus wittii'' – synonym of ''
Strophocactus wittii ''Strophocactus wittii'', synonym ''Selenicereus wittii'', known as the Amazon moonflower, is a species of plant in the genus '' Strophocactus'' in the cactus family (Cactaceae), and is one of several species commonly called "moonflowers". It wa ...
''


Uses

The fruits of a number of species of ''Selenicereus'' (particularly those formerly placed in ''Hylocereus'') are eaten. ''
Selenicereus undatus ''Selenicereus undatus'', the white-fleshed pitahaya, is a species of the genus '' Selenicereus'' (formerly ''Hylocereus'') in the family Cactaceae and is the most cultivated species in the genus. It is used both as an ornamental vine and as a f ...
'' and ''
Selenicereus triangularis ''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 ...
'' are widely cultivated in the Americas, Europe and Asia for their fruits, known as ''
pitaya A pitaya () or pitahaya () is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous to the Americas. Pitaya usually refers to fruit of the genus ''Stenocereus'', while pitahaya or dragon fruit refers to fruit of the genus ''Selenicereus'' ( ...
s'' or ''pitahayas'' in Spanish, and as dragon fruits in Asia. The fruit of '' Selenicereus setaceus'' is eaten in South America.


References


External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q132870, from2=Q133960, from3=Q14928143 Cacti of North America Cacti of South America Flora of the Caribbean Flora of Central America Night-blooming plants