Two treatments of the short-spined plants
POWO accepts Armatocereus godingianus and two subspecies, the typical one and subsp. brevispinus (Madsen) D.R.Hunt. Armatocereus brevispinus Madsen is a synonym of the latter. In 2016, Loaiza and Roque Gamarra treated it as a separate species. The account below retains the scope of that short-spined brevispinus material. [2-WWW] [2-WWW] [Loaiza and Roque Gamarra 2016, POWO records 19744-2 and 1160479-2, 12 October 2026, pp. 35, 37–38]
Stems, areoles and short spines of the subspecies
The brevispinus account describes a plant 8–10 m tall, with a woody trunk 15–50 cm in diameter. Dark green stem segments are 40–80 cm long and 7–12 cm in diameter, with 4–8 ribs. Successive constrictions are associated with annual growth. The broadly oval, pale brown woolly areoles are 4–7 mm wide and spaced 2–5 cm apart. [Loaiza and Roque Gamarra 2016, p. 37]
The central spine is short, 2–7 mm long, with a dark tip. Each areole also produces 7–10 radial spines pointing in different directions. These are distinguishing characters of the brevispinus material in the account. The authors' key gives a central spine 1–5 cm long for the more strongly spined A. godingianus, reflecting the difference between the treatments discussed. [Loaiza and Roque Gamarra 2016, pp. 37–38, key]
Flowers, fruits and seeds of the subspecies
The solitary, funnel-shaped flowers of brevispinus are held horizontally. The account gives a length of 8 cm and a width of 6 cm. The outer perianth parts are green, smooth and recurved, while the inner ones are white with rounded tips. Small bracts are 1–5 mm long. The green, ovoid fruit is 7–10 cm long and bears short brownish-yellow spines. The numerous black seeds are ovoid to kidney-shaped. [Loaiza and Roque Gamarra 2016, pp. 37–38]
Ecuadorian localities and a Peruvian specimen
Loaiza and Roque Gamarra report brevispinus from dry valleys, rocky slopes and scrub in southern Ecuador and northern Peru, at 800–2000 m elevation. The Peruvian record newly reported in their account came from a specimen collected in 1964 beside the road to Ayabaca in Piura, at 1700 m. Hutchison and Wright 6670 was held at herbarium USM and was identified again during a collection review. [Loaiza and Roque Gamarra 2016, pp. 37, 40, Figure 3]
The POWO subspecies record lists Loja in Ecuador. The 2016 paper provides a separate, documented record from Peru. Its potential-range model identifies areas with similar environmental conditions. The modelled range remains a proposal for field verification, separate from the localities of known specimens. [2-WWW] [Loaiza and Roque Gamarra 2016, POWO record 1160479-2, 12 October 2026, pp. 36–40, Figure 7]
Related articles
Materials from the author's archive
The species also appears in Konrad Szychowski's private material archive. [Burghardt 2005b, file p. 16]
Synonyms and names in the literature
Lemaireocereus godingianus · Armatocereus godingianus subsp. brevispinus · Armatocereus brevispinus [2-WWW]