Cereus hexagonus

Cereus hexagonus or lady of the night cactus is a species of columnar cactus found in northern South America.^[2]

Cereus hexagonus grows like a tree with erect shoots that branch out from near the base and can reach heights of growth of up to 15 metres. The cylindrical, segmented, glaucous light green shoots have a diameter of up to 12 centimeters and more. There are four to seven thin, wavy ribs that are 3 to 5 centimeters high. The areoles on it are small. The thorns are missing on young shoots or there are only a few. Older shoots have 8 to 10 or more unequal spines per areole. The initially brown thorns become lighter later. They are 5 to 6 centimeters long.

The white flowers are 20 to 25 centimeters long. The 5.5 to 13 centimeters long, egg-shaped fruits are light red. They contain white or pink flesh.

Cereus hexagonus is distributed in Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, Venezuela and northern Brazil.^[2]

The species is classified as Least Concern (LC) in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.^[1]

The first description as Cactus hexagonus was published in 1753 by Linnaeus in his work Species Plantarum.^[3] Philip Miller placed the species in the genus Cereus in 1768.

• Media related to Cereus hexagonus at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Cereus hexagonus at Wikispecies