Pilosocereus royenii (L.) Byles & G.D.Rowley
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Cactaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Shrub or small tree, to 7 m tall; branches ascending, bluish green, arising from a short trunk to 30 cm diam.; ribs 7-11; areoles 1-1.5 cm apart, with long, white, woolly hairs, especially near apex of stems; spines 10-12, acicular, yellowish, 1-3 cm long. Flowers funnel-shaped, 5-6 cm long; perianth tube yellowish green at base, the outer segments yellowish to white with pinkish margins, the inner segments white; stamens shorter than the perianth; the stigma exserted, light yellow. Fruit 4-5.5 cm wide, depressed-globose, turning from green to purplish red when mature, the pulp crimson. Seeds nearly kidney-shaped, ca. 3 mm wide, black and shiny.
Distribution and Ecology - Common in dry, coastal scrub areas. Salt Pond (A4668). Also on Anegada, Jost van Dyke, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda; Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles.
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Discussion
Cereus armatus Otto ex Pfeiff., Enum. Diagn. Cact. 81. 1837.
Cereus floccosus Otto ex Pfeiff., Enum. Diagn. Cact. 81. 1837.
Cereus leiocarpus Bello, Anales Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. 10: 276. 1881.
Common names: dacta dul dul, didledoo, pipe organ.