Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Highly specialized, usually succulent, sprawling terrestrial or epiphytic vines, usually spiny, the spines variable in number, size, arrangement, and color, produced from specialized axillary structures (areoles).

Stems: Stems 3–winged, the wings 2–3 cm wide, thin, crenate with calloused margins. areoles with 1–4 conical spines 1–3 mm long.

Roots: Aerial roots present along the length of the stems.

Leaves: Leaves usually absent. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers solitary. Flowers bisexual (perfect), very rarely unisexual, actinomorphic or occasionally zygomorphic, nocturnal, 25–30 cm long, 15–25 cm in diameter. Sepaloid perianth greenish–white, linear to linear-lanceolate, 10–15 cm long, 1–1.5 cm wide; inner perianth parts white, oblanceolate, 10–15 cm long, ca. 2.5 cm wide, segments indefinite, few to numerous, usually not sharply differentiated into 2 series; the receptacle tube bearing foliaceous scales. Stamens numerous, inserted in the throat of the receptacle tube, staminal filaments cream-colored; anthers dithecal, longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary inferior, very rarely superior, 3-carpellate to many-carpellate, 1-celled; ovules numerous, on parietal placentas, usually campylotropous, with foliaceous scales; style 1, cream-colored, 17.5–20 cm long; stigma lobes up to 24, papillate, cream-colored.

Fruit: Berries red; fleshy; splitting; oblong; 5–12.5 cm long; 4–9 cm in diameter. Seeds numerous; shiny black; ovate–reniform.

Ploidy: 2n = 22

Habitat:

Elevation Range: