Family: Cactaceae
Group: Dicot
Substrate:
Epiphyte
Habit:
Herb
Perennation:
Perennial
Native Range: The typical variety is native to South Florida, the West Indies, Mexico, Central America and South America; other subspecies are found in the New and Old World tropics.
Map of select IRC data for peninsular Florida
NatureServe Global Status:
Apparently Secure
State of Florida Status:
Endangered
Florida Natural Areas Inventory State Status:
Critically Imperiled
IRC SOUTH FLORIDA Status:
Possibly Extirpated or Extinct in the Wild
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 125-127) based on an occurrence in Everglades National Park that had been last vouchered in 1991; that population was likely destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. There was also a historical record from the interior of Miami-Dade County that was vouchered in 1923. It is widely cultivated in South Florida, but there are no long-term substantiated reports of it naturalizing anywhere within the region. Its distribution in South Florida may be constrained by limited precipitation and, historically, occasional freezing temperatures.
SOUTH FLORIDA Cultivated Status:
Cultivated
Comments: See also, IRC’s report
Vascular plant species of management concern in Everglades National Park (Gann 2015), page 130 and Florida Natural Areas Inventory's
Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Florida page (Chafin 2000).
