Autor: Backeberg
• ETYMOLOGY
” Wax candle of Brazil “, specifying the Brazilian origin of the genus.
• DESCRIPTION
A shrubby genus, rarely branched, with erect or bent fine cylindrical stems with narrow ribs. Areoles woolly, spines
setose or aciculate. Roots fibrous.
Flowers nocturnal, shortly tubular to bell-shaped, whitish to pale green, pollinated by bats. Fruits egg-shaped to pearshaped, indehiscent, floral remains persistent. Seeds black, smooth and shiny.
• HABITAT
The genus Brasilicereus grows in subtropical or tropical dry deciduous forests, protected by the surrounding
vegetation, often on granite or gneiss inselbergs, from 40 m up to 950 m in altitude.
• DISTRIBUTION
Brazil (Bahia, Minas Gerais).
Currently 2 recognised species:
– Brasilicereus markgrafii* Backeb. & Voli 1949
– Brasilicereus phaeacanthus (Giirke) Backeb. 1941
References: "TAXONOMY of the CACTACEAE" - ISBN 978-84-617-3723-9 (Vol. 1)