Name and range
Plants of the World Online accepts Strophocactus brasiliensis (Britton & Rose) S.Arias & N.Korotkova. Its synonyms include Acanthocereus brasiliensis, Pseudoacanthocereus brasiliensis and Pseudoacanthocereus boreominarum. Its native occurrence is recorded in Bahia and Minas Gerais. The 2017 revision associates the species with the eastern caatinga and agreste transition zone, in a seasonally dry landscape. [2-WWW] [Korotkova et al. 2017, POWO record 77177692-1, 12 October 2026, pp. 13–14, 33]
Habit, roots and reproductive organs
The comparative description of the two former Pseudoacanthocereus species, S. brasiliensis and S. sicariguensis, presents shrubs with decumbent or scrambling stems and tuberous roots. Stems up to 4.5 cm in diameter and a variable number of 2–7 ribs were reported for this pair. These values belong to a combined comparative account encompassing variation in both species. [Korotkova et al. 2017, p. 13]
In the same account, the flowers have an elongated tubular-funnel shape and bristles arising from areoles. Fruits were described as yellow to brown, with white pulp and deciduous areoles. Similarities in floral structure, areoles and fruit colour were considered together with the phylogenetic result supporting inclusion in Strophocactus. [Korotkova et al. 2017, pp. 13–14]
Change in classification
The new name combination was published in 2017. Its basionym is Acanthocereus brasiliensis, described in 1920. The analysis used previously published sequences of the rpl16 and trnL-F regions for this species. The range and shrubby structure of S. brasiliensis form its own profile within the genus, alongside the highly specialized epiphyte S. wittii. [Korotkova et al. 2017, pp. 33, 46]
Synonyms and names in the literature
Acanthocereus brasiliensis · Pseudoacanthocereus boreominarum · Pseudoacanthocereus brasiliensis · Pseudoacanthocereus brasiliensis f. boreominarum [2-WWW]