Characteristics
Dicots
Cereus hexagonus (L.)Mill.
LADY-OF-THE-NIGHT CACTUS
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This arborescent cactus is commonly cultivated in Florida and the West Indies, and native to northern South America. It is often misidentified as C. repandus, a species with much shorter flowers (5-11 cm long) (Britton & Rose 1920:17-18). The name C. lepidotus might possibly be more applicable to this species here, such that C. hexagonus could be misapplied here (Taylor & Zappi 2019). This species is only weakly distinguished from C. jamacuru (native to eastern Brazil), which tends to have more numerous spines, often robust and long, with stout protruding areoles. Another similar species is C. hildmannianus (native to southern Brazil to eastern Argentina), which tends to have stout areoles with fewer, somewhat short spines, outer tepals often reddish (vs. reddish to more greenish tepals in the other species), and fruit yellow to red, splitting from the apex (vs. red fruits often a lateral split in the other species). The name Cereus peruvianus is widely misapplied, but it is currently treated as a synonym of C. repandus (see Hunt & Taylor 1992).
Not Native
**

Citation
CEREUS HEXAGONUS (Linnaeus) Miller, Gard. Dict. (ed. 8). Cereus #1. 1768.
Cactus hexagonus Linnaeus 1753.
SURINAM: Without data (lectotype: Trew, Acta Phys. -Med. Acad. Caes. Leop.-Carol. Nat. Cur. 3: 25, t. 8. 1733). Lectotypified by Leuenberger, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 111: 153, f. 2. 1989.
Species Distribution Map
Based on vouchered plant specimens from wild populations. Cultivated occurrences are not mapped. Click on a county to display its name.
Source
County
Herbaria
Literature Citation (If Applicable)
Hillsborough
USF
Palm Beach
USF
St. Lucie
USF
Synonyms
Synonym
Full Citation
Basionym
Type
Acanthocereus thalassinus
Acanthocereus thalassinus (Otto & A. Dietrich) Borg, Cacti 133. 1937.
BASIONYM: Cereus thalassinus Otto & A. Dietrich 1837.
Cactus hexagonus
Cactus hexagonus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 466. 1753.
TYPE: SURINAM: Without data (lectotype: Trew, Acta Phys. -Med. Acad. Caes. Leop.-Carol. Nat. Cur. 3: 25, t. 8. 1733). Lectotypified by Leuenberger, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 111: 153, f. 2. 1989.
Cactus peruvianus
Cactus peruvianus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 467. 1753.
TYPE: PERU: Without data (lectotype: Plantin, Pl. Stirp. Icon. 2: 25, "Euphorbii arbor Cerei effgie, sive Peruvianus Cereus vulgi". 1581). Lectotypified by Heath, Calyx 2: 70. 1992.
Cephalocereus perlucens
Cephalocereus perlucens (K. Schumann) Borg, Cacti, ed. 2. 144. 1951.
BASIONYM: Cereus perlucens K. Schumann 1900.
Cereus horridus
Cereus horridus Otto ex Pfeiffer, Allg. Gartenzeitung 5: 370. 1837.
Cereus lepidotus
Cereus lepidotus Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1841: 207. 1850.
Cereus longiflorus
Cereus longiflorus Alexander, in A. C. Smith, Lloydia 2: 199. 1939.
TYPE: GUYANA:
Cereus perlucens
Cereus perlucens K. Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 173. 1900.
TYPE: BRAZIL:
Cereus peruvianus
Cereus peruvianus (Linnaeus) Miller, Gard. Dict., ed. 8. Cereus #4. 1768.
BASIONYM: Cactus peruvianus Linnaeus 1753.
Cereus thalassinus
Cerreus thalassinus Otto & A. Dietrich, Allg. Gartenzeitung 6: 34. 1838.
Specimens and Distribution
Click on an Accession Number to view additional details about the specimen.
Counties listed: Hillsborough, St. Luc
Range of years during which specimens were collected: 2002 - 2016
Accession No.
Country
State
County
Collection Date
Collector & Collection No
Notes
Image