Strophocactus sicariguensis

Name and distribution

The accepted name is Strophocactus sicariguensis (Croizat & Tamayo) S.Arias & N.Korotkova. Acanthocereus sicariguensis and Pseudoacanthocereus sicariguensis are its earlier generic combinations. POWO records a range from northern Colombia to northwestern Venezuela, within a seasonally dry tropical biome. The 2017 revision places it in the Maracaibo region. [2-WWW] [Korotkova et al. 2017, POWO record 77177693-1, 12 October 2026, pp. 14, 33]

Variable stem form

The comparison with S. brasiliensis describes slender ribbed stems in decumbent or scrambling shrubs, together with tuberous roots. A combined range of up to 4.5 cm in stem diameter and 2–7 ribs was reported for the two species. Strongly flattened stem sections were additionally documented in S. sicariguensis. The figure compares them with stems of S. wittii. [Korotkova et al. 2017, pp. 13–14, Fig. 4]

The comparative account includes elongated tubular-funnel flowers, bristly areoles and yellow to brown fruits with white pulp. This set of reproductive characters complements the resemblance of some stems to those of S. wittii. [Korotkova et al. 2017, pp. 13–14]

Relationship in plastid data

In the 2017 plastid tree, S. sicariguensis and S. wittii formed a closely related pair within a lineage also containing S. brasiliensis. The rpl16 and trnL-F sequences for S. sicariguensis came from an earlier study. The authors regarded agreement between molecular and morphological evidence as the basis for a shared genus, Strophocactus. [Korotkova et al. 2017, pp. 13–14, 33, 46]