PlantFiles: Triangle Cactus, Dildoe Cactus, Barbed-wire Cactus
Acanthocereus tetragonus

Acanthocereus tetragonus is Native to Texas and other States.

More synonyms of this plant are: Cereus tetragonus, Cactus prismaticus, Acanthocereus princeps, Acanthocereus pitajaya, Acanthocereus columbianus, Cereus acutangulus, Acanthocereus acutangulus, Acanthocereus brasiliensis & Cactus pitajaya.

This highly spiny, subshrub to thicket-forming, sometimes rather large, shrubby cactus with stems up to 10 feet or possibly taller is native to the coastal hammocks and dry coastal habitats and thickets and sandy coastal habitats of central and southern Florida and the Keys, south into the Caribbean. The flowers are very amazing and showy and are white with a deep red and orange or red-orange center. The flowers bloom at night and are rarely seen by naturalists due to swarms of mosquitoes and very dark surroundings. The flowers are closed during the day. This cactus blooms a few times a year for around a few weeks. This cactus often forms thickets in coastal hammocks which can be impenetrable and spiny. It gets the common names Dildoe and Barbed-wire Cactus due to the very sharp, barb-wire spines (which, along with the stems, could also give it the other common name, Triangle Cactus). The ripe fruits are red to scarlet. The stems and fruits of this species in the Keys and far southern mainland of Florida are eaten by the endangered Key Largo Woodrat. The flowers are pollinated at night when they boom by insects. In Florida it is found in the central and southern coastal and mainland counties south through the Keys and into the Keys. Due to habitat destruction of the coastal hammocks and coastal habitats it is found in, this cactus is sadly listed as threatened by the state of Florida.

MORE FACTS - Also found in the Caribbean. Found in zones 9a through 11. The showy flowers, which are somewhat fragrant and close at night before dawn and remain closed throughout the day and open at night, have many white, raidiating petals. The part of the scientific name, tetragonus, means 'four-angled'. Other synonyms, besides the ones already shown, are Cactus pentagonus L., Cactus prismaticus Willd., Cereus acutangulus Otto, Cereus nitidus Salm-Dyck, Cereus prismaticus (Willd.)Haw., Cereus sirul F.A.C.Weber, and Cereus vasmerae M.J.Young. In Florida, this spp. is foumd occuring in or reported from St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Collier and Lee counties and from the Keys (zones: 9b through 11, though may often survive to 9a).