Peniocereus is a genus of vining 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- (from the Latin , meaning ‘tail’) and Cereus, the large genus from which it was split.
Known as the desert night-blooming cereus, it also shares its common names of "night-blooming cereus" and "queen of the night" with many other similar cacti.
Taxonomy Peniocereus was first described in 1905 by Alwin Berger as a subgenus of Cereus with a single species, Cereus greggii. This taxon was elevated to the genus level as Peniocereus greggii by Britton and Rose in 1909. Later in 1974 an infrageneric classification was constructed based on morphological features that split Peniocereus into two subgenera: Peniocereus and Pseudoacanthocereus. In 2005 a molecular phylogenetic study of the genus supported this split and showed that Peniocereus is not monophyletic.
Species Species include:
Peniocereus sensu stricto Molecular phylogeny supported the position of this subgenus within Echinocereeae. Image Scientific name Distribution Peniocereus greggii(Engelm.) Britton & Rose United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas), Mexico Peniocereus johnstoniiBritton & RoseMexico (Baja California Sur) Peniocereus lazaro-cardenasii(J.L.Contr., J.Jiménez Ram., Sánchez-Mej. & C.A.Toledo) D.R.HuntMexico (Guerrero, Michoacan de Ocampo) Peniocereus marianus(Gentry) Sánchez-Mej. Mexico (Sinaloa, Sonora) Peniocereus papillosus (Britton & Rose) U.GuzmánSinaola Peniocereus striatus – gearstem cactus Mexico (Baja California, Sinaloa, and Sonora) and United States (Arizona) Peniocereus viperinus Mexico (Morelos, Puebla) Peniocereus zopilotensis Mexico (Guerrero) Formerly included species Nyctocereus The 2005 molecular study showed that P. serpentinus is in Echinocereeae along with subgenus Peniocereus, but suggests resurrecting the monotopic Nyctocereus as it is sister to Bergerocactus. Image Scientific name Distribution Former name Nyctocereus serpentinus Mexico (Michoacan de Ocampo, Morelos, Oaxaca)Peniocereus sepentinus
Subgenus Pseudoacanthocereus (Now Acanthocereus) Molecular phylogeny and morphological evidence suggests this subgenus is more closely related to Acanthocereus. Image Scientific name Distribution Former name Acanthocereus castellae Mexico (Colima, Jalisco, Michoacan de Ocampo)Peniocereus castellae Acanthocereus cuixmalensis Mexico (Colima, Jalisco, Michoacan de Ocampo)Peniocereus cuixmalensis Acanthocereus fosterianus Mexico (Chiapas, Colima, Guerrero, Oaxaca)Peniocereus fosterianus Acanthocereus hirschtianus Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, NicaraguaPeniocereus hirschtianus Acanthocereus macdougallii Mexico (Oaxaca)Peniocereus macdougallii Acanthocereus maculatus Mexico ( Guerrero)Peniocereus maculatus Acanthocereus oaxacensis Mexico (Oaxaca)Peniocereus oaxacensis Acanthocereus rosei Mexico (Jalisco, Sinaloa)Peniocereus roseiAcanthocereus tepalcatepecanus Mexico (Michoacan de Ocampo)Peniocereus tepalcatepecanus
References