Family: Cactaceae
Group: Dicot
Substrate:
Terrestrial
Habit:
Shrub
Perennation:
Perennial
Native Range: South Florida and the West Indies (Cuba, Bahamas).
Florida Natural Areas Inventory State Status:
Critically Imperiled
IRC SOUTH FLORIDA Status:
Critically Imperiled
Map of South Florida Locations
SOUTH FLORIDA Occurrence:
Present
SOUTH FLORIDA Native Status:
Native
South Florida History and Distribution: Ranked as critically imperiled in Rare Plants of South Florida (
Gann et al. 2002; pp 496-497) based on four occurrences in two conservation areas (Long Key State Park, National Key Deer Refuge) and three non-conservation areas (privately owned Layton Hammock, privately owned Teatable Hammock and privately owned hammock on Lower Matecumbe Key) in the Monroe County Keys. New plants have been found at Key Tree Cactus Preserve on Upper Matecumbe Key in Islamorada and Teatable Hammock is now protected within Lignumvitae Key State Park. Plants at the remaining two private parcels are considered possibly extirpated.
SOUTH FLORIDA Cultivated Status:
Cultivated
Comments: For a recent taxonomic revision of this and other Caribbean
Pilosocereus, see
Franck et al. (2019). For a current review of
P. robinii, see the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Species Profile. See also our
Natives For Your Neighborhood website and Florida Natural Areas Inventory's
Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Florida page (Chafin 2000). For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the
Exploring Florida website. Some records of this in South Florida may refer to
P. millspaughii.
Synonyms:
P. bahamensis; Pilosocereus polygonus, misapplied.
FLORIDA KEYS Occurrence:
Present
FLORIDA KEYS Native Status:
Native
IRC FLORIDA KEYS Status:
Critically Imperiled
Map of Florida Keys Locations
Florida Keys History and Distribution: First collected in 1834 or 1835 by Reverend Alva Bennett on the island of Key West. Reported in
1913 by John Kunkel Small for hammocks on the island of Key West. We consider this native and extant from the upper Keys to the lower Keys. For more information on this in the Florida Keys, see IRC's
species account.
