Acanthocereus tetragonus (L.) Hummelinck, Cactaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Acanthocereus pentagonus (L.) Britton & Rose

Common name(s): [more details]

English: barbed-wire cactus, sword-pear, triangle cactus

Habit:  succulent

Description:  "Stem clambering, usually 2 to 3, sometimes 7 meters high, but when growing in the open more or less arched and rooting at the tips, then making other arches and thus forming large colonies; old trunk becoming nearly round, 5 cm in diameter or more, covered with a thick mucilaginous, spineless cortex and a hard-wood axis with only a small pithy cavity; joints 3 to 8 cm broad, 3 to 5-angled, low-crenate; juvenile growth nearly terete, with 6 to 8 low ribs, approximate areoles and numerous short acicular spines; areoles on normal branches 3 to 5 cm apart; spines gray, acicular to subulate, various; radials at first 6 or 7, 1 to 4 cm long; central spine often solitary, longer than the radials; spines of old areoles often as many as 12, of which several are centrals; flowers 14 to 20 cm long; tube and ovary bearing conspicuous areoles with brown felt and several subulate spines; outer perianth-segments green; inner perianth-segments white, acuminate; fruit oblong, red, edible; cotyledons broadly ovate, 5 to 8 mm long, tick, united at base, gradually passing below into the spindle-shaped hypocotyl" (Britton & Rose, 1920).

"Stems arching to 2-3 m high but to 7 m long, rooting at tips; juvenile stems terete with 6 to 8 ribs, mature growth (3- or) 4- or 5-ribbed, shallowly undulate between areoles, spines gray, acicular, 10-12, to 3.5 cm long. Flowers with hypanthium 14-20 cm long, spiny. Mature fruits oblong, 5-7 cm long, 4 cm in diameter, purple to dark red" (Howard, 1989; p. 401).

Habitat/ecology:  "Sandy soils of dense thickets, hammocks, bottomlands of coastal areas; 0-10 m" (Flora of North America). In Hawai‘i, "naturalized on the southern coast of Kauai in dry secondary scrubland" (Lorence et al., 1995; p. 27). In New Caledonia, "cette espèce, constituant depuis longtemps à Boulouparis des fourrés étendus et impénétrables, reste peu commune ailleurs" (MacKee, 1994; p. 25).

Propagation:  Seed, locally by rooting from tips (see description above) (Britton & Rose, 1920).

Native range:  Florida to Texas, Mexico, Central America, Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, northern South America (Howard, 1989; p. 401).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 27) Voucher cited: D. Lorence & T. Flynn 6277 (BISH, PTBG)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands	introduced invasive	Meyer, Jean-Yves (2000) (p. 99) As Acanthocereus pentagonus
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	Gargominy, Oliver/Bouchet, Philipe/Pascal, Michel/Jaffre, Tanguy/Tourneu, Jean-Christophe (1996) (p. 379) As Acanthocereus pentagonus Constitue depuis longtemps à Boulouparis des fourrés étendus et impénétrables; peu commune ailleurs.
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005) As Acanthocereus pentagonus (L.)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 25) As Acanthocereus pentagonus (L.) Britt. & Rose; voucher cited MacKee 41015

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 5) As Acanthocereus pentagonus
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

Additional information:  Additional online information about Acanthocereus tetragonus is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Acanthocereus tetragonus may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Gargominy, Oliver/Bouchet, Philipe/Pascal, Michel/Jaffre, Tanguy/Tourneu, Jean-Christophe. 1996. Conséquences des introductions d'espèces animales et végétales sur la biodiversité en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Rev. Ecol. (Terre Vie) 51:375-401.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Howard, Richard A. 1989. Flora of the Lesser Antilles: Leeward and Windward Islands. Vol. 5 Dicotyledoneae-Part 2 Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. 604 pp.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. 1995. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. III. New additions, range extensions, and rediscoveries of flowering plants. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 41:19-58.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Meyer, Jean-Yves. 2000. Preliminary review of the invasive plants in the Pacific islands (SPREP Member Countries). In: Sherley, G. (tech. ed.). Invasive species in the Pacific: A technical review and draft regional strategy. South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Samoa. 190 pp.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

Tassin, Jacques. 2005. Jacques Tassin (IAC-CIRAD), personal communication.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).