Harrisia (plant)

For the fly genus, see Harrisia (fly).

Harrisia
Harrisia gracilis and Harrisia martinii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Tribe:	Cereeae
Subtribe:	Trichocereinae
Genus:	Harrisia Britton [1]
Type species
Harrisia gracilis
Species
See text.
Synonyms [1]
EriocereusRiccob. ErythrocereusHoughton Roseocereus(Backeb.) Backeb.

Harrisia (applecactus ^[2] and moonlight cactus ^{[3] [4]} ) is a genus of night blooming cacti.

Description

They are tree-shaped, sometimes climbing or shrub-like cacti with cylindrical shoots. They reach heights of up to 7 m. The shoots are ribbed (four to twelve ribs) and do not form aerial roots. The flowers open at night, are white and up to 12 cm in diameter. After successful pollination, rounded fruits are formed, which are red to orange in color. The fruits have scales with areoles in the axils. The black seeds are 2 to 3 × 1.5 mm in size. ^[5]

Distribution

Plants are native to Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas, and the U.S. state of Florida. The genus is named after William Harris, an important botanist of Jamaica. There are about 20 species. ^[6]

Harrisia cactus is an exotic invasive in Australia in Queensland ^{[3] [7]} and New South Wales, ^[8] in Africa, and in the U.S. state of Hawaii.

Taxonomy

The genus was established by Nathaniel Lord Britton in 1909. ^[1]

Species

As of September 2023 ^[update] , Plants of the World Online accepted the following species separated into two subgenera: ^{[9] [1]}

Subgenus	Image	Scientific name	Distribution
Eriocereus(A. Berger) A.R. Franck		Harrisia tetracantha (Labour.) D.R.Hunt	Bolivia.
		Harrisia regelii (Weing.) Borg	Argentina (Santa Fé, Entre Ríos) to Uruguay.
		Harrisia martinii (Labour.) Britton	E. Paraguay to NE. Argentina.
		Harrisia bonplandii (J.Parm. ex Pfeiff.) Britton & Rose	Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia
		Harrisia pomanensis (F.A.C.Weber ex K.Schum.) Britton & Rose	Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay
		Harrisia tortuosa (J.Forbes) Britton & Rose	Bolivia to Uruguay.
Harrisia		Harrisia aboriginum Small ex Britton & Rose	Florida, on the Gulf Coast of the counties of Lee, Sarasota County, and Charlotte
		Harrisia adscendens (Gürke) Britton & Rose	Brazil
		Harrisia brookii Britton	Bahamas.
		Harrisia caymanensis A.R.Franck	Cayman Islands, Swan Islands.
		Harrisia divaricata (Lam.) Backeb.	Hispaniola.
		Harrisia earlei Britton & Rose	Cuba
		Harrisia eriophora (Pfeiff.) Britton	Cuba.
		Harrisia fernowii Britton	Cuba.
		Harrisia fragrans Small ex Britton & Rose	St. Lucie County, Florida
		Harrisia gracilis (Mill.) Britton	Jamaica
		Harrisia portoricensis Britton	Puerto Rico
		Harrisia taetra Areces	Cuba.

References

1. "Harrisia Britton". Plants of the World Online. 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
2. NRCS. "Harrisia". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 10 May 2015.
3. "Harrisia cactus" (PDF). Biosecurity Queensland. The State of Queensland, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
4. "Harrisia Cactus". HerbiGuide. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
5. Anderson, Edward F.; Eggli, Urs (2005). Das grosse Kakteen-Lexikon (in German). Stuttgart (Hohenheim): Ulmer. p. 337–341. ISBN   3-8001-4573-1.
6. Flora of North America
7. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry: Biosecurity Queensland (1 January 2016). "Prohibited invasive plants: Harrisia cactus". Business Queensland. Queensland Government. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
8. Long, Brandon; Hughes, Megan (26 January 2025). "'Ineradicable' harrisia cactus spreads, killing animals and hurting people". ABC News. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
9. Franck, Alan R. (2016). "MONOGRAPH OF HARRISIA" (PDF). Phytoneuron. Retrieved 2023-11-25.

External links

• Media related to Harrisia at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Harrisia at Wikispecies