Pilosocereus

Pilosocereus (from Latin, "hairy cereus") is a genus of cactus native to the Neotropics. Tree cactus is a common name for Pilosocereus species.^[2] The genera Caerulocereus and Pseudopilocereus are synonyms of this genus.^[1]

Pilosocereus
Pilosocereus catingicola
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Tribe:	Cereeae
Subtribe:	Cereinae
Genus:	Pilosocereus Byles & G.D.Rowley[1]
Species
See text
Approximate distribution[1]
Synonyms[1]
Caerulocereus Guiggi Pseudopilocereus Buxb.

The commonly cultivated Pilosocereus pachycladus (syn. Pilosocereus azureus) is a blue cactus with hairy areoles that emit golden spines.

When mature, most species develop a hairy lateral cephalium either white, golden, brown, or Golden brown. A noteworthy example of an exception to this rule is that of Pilosocereus pentaedrophorus. Generally, Tubular flowers emerge year-round from the hairy cephalium. These flowers emit off-putting smells attracting flies and bats for pollination. Flowers come in white, pink, and purple too. Generally, Pilosocereus flowers are self pollinating, but there may be exceptions. After pollination, globose fruits an inch or bigger form. when ripe, they split and reveal it's enciting red pulp. Pilosocereus are generally dispersed by bats.^[1]

Species

As of October 2023^[update], Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:^[1]

Image	Scientific name	Distribution
	Pilosocereus albisummus P.J.Braun & Esteves	Minas Gerais, Brazil
	Pilosocereus alensis (F.A.C.Weber ex Rol.-Goss.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Western Mexico
	Pilosocereus armatus (Otto ex Pfeiff.) A.R.Franck	Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands
	Pilosocereus arrabidae (Steud.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Brazil
	Pilosocereus aureispinus (Buining & Brederoo) F.Ritter	Brazil
	Pilosocereus aurisetus (Werderm.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Minas Gerais, Brazil
200px	Pilosocereus azulensis N.P.Taylor & Zappi	Minas Gerais, Brazil
	Pilosocereus bohlei Hofacker	Bahia,Brazil
	Pilosocereus brasiliensis (Britton & Rose) Backeb.	East Brazil
	Pilosocereus brevispinus Hoxey & Gdaniec	Central Hispaniola
	Pilosocereus brooksianus (Britton & Rose) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Southeast Cuba
	Pilosocereus catalani (Riccob.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Unknown, possibly brazil
	Pilosocereus catimbauensis (N.P.Taylor & Albuq.-Lima) N.P.Taylor & Albuq.-Lima	Pernambuco,Brazil
	Pilosocereus catingicola (Gürke) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Paraíba, Bahia.
	Pilosocereus chrysacanthus (F.A.C.Weber ex K.Schum.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Mexico and Honduras
	Pilosocereus chrysostele (Vaupel) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Brazil
	Pilosocereus collinsii (Britton & Rose) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Oaxaca,Mexico
	Pilosocereus colombianus (Rose) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Colombia, and Ecuador
	Pilosocereus curtisii (Otto) A.R.Franck	The Lesser Antilles and the British Virgin Islands
	Pilosocereus densiareolatus F.Ritter	East Brazil
	Pilosocereus diersianus (Esteves) P.J.Braun	Tocantins and Goiás
	Pilosocereus excelsus Hoxey & Gdaniec	East Dominican Republic
	Pilosocereus flavipulvinatus (Buining & Brederoo) F.Ritter	Northern Brazil
	Pilosocereus flexibilispinus P.J.Braun & Esteves	Central Brazil
	Pilosocereus floccosus Byles & G.D.Rowley	East Brazil
	Pilosocereus fulvilanatus (Buining & Brederoo) F.Ritter	Minas Gerais, Brazil
	Pilosocereus gaumeri (Britton & Rose) Backeb.	Southeast Mexico
	Pilosocereus glaucochrous (Werderm.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Northeast Brazil
	Pilosocereus jamaicensis Proctor	Cayman Islands and Jamaica
	Pilosocereus juaruensis (Buining & Brederoo) P.J.Braun	Central Brazil and Northeast Paraguay
	Pilosocereus kanukuensis (Alexander) Leuenb.	Kanuku mountains, Venezuela
	Pilosocereus lanuginosus (L.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Netherlands antilies
	Pilosocereus leucocephalus (Poselg.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Mexico and honduras
	Pilosocereus machrisii (E.Y.Dawson) Backeb.	Brazil
	Pilosocereus magnificus (Buining & Brederoo) F.Ritter ex D.R.Hunt	Southeast Brazil
	Pilosocereus millspaughii (Britton) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Florida(Locally extinct]] and The antillies
	Pilosocereus mollispinus P.J.Braun & Esteves	Goias,Brazil
	Pilosocereus moritzianus (Otto ex Pfeiff.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Lesser Antilles and Northern Venezuela
	Pilosocereus multicostatus F.Ritter	Southeast Brazil
	Pilosocereus occultiflorus P.J.Braun & Esteves	Minas Gerais, Brazil
	Pilosocereus oligolepis (Vaupel) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Guyana, Brazil and Possibly venezuela
	Pilosocereus pachycladus F.Ritter	Minas Gerais, Brazil
	Pilosocereus parvus (Diers & Esteves) P.J.Braun	Central Brazil
	Pilosocereus pentaedrophorus (Labour.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	East Brazil
	Pilosocereus piauhyensis (Gürke) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Piaui, Brazil
	Pilosocereus polygonus (Lam.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Central Hispaniola
	Pilosocereus × pseudosuperfloccosus P.J.Braun & Esteves	Bahia, Brazil
	Pilosocereus purpusii (Britton & Rose) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Zacatecas, Mexico
	Pilosocereus pusillibaccatus P.J.Braun & Esteves	North Brazil
	Pilosocereus quadricentralis (E.Y.Dawson) Backeb.	Oaxaca and Chiapas
	Pilosocereus robinii (Lem.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Florida and the Bahamas
	Pilosocereus rosae P.J.Braun	Minas Gerais, Brazil
	Pilosocereus royenii (L.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Mexico and Caribbean
	Pilosocereus samanensis Hoxey & Gdaniec	Northeast Dominican republic
	Pilosocereus splendidus F.Ritter	Bahia, Brazil
	Pilosocereus × subsimilis Rizzini & A.Mattos	Minas Gerais, Brazil
	Pilosocereus tillianus R.Gruber & Schatzl	Mérida, venezuela
	Pilosocereus ulei(K.Schum.) Byles & G.D.Rowley	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
	Pilosocereus vilaboensis (Diers & Esteves) P.J.Braun	West-central Brazil
	Pilosocereus zahrae P.J.Braun	Bahia, Brazil