A distinct genus in the columnar cactus lineage
Accounts from different periods use Cereus marginatus, Pachycereus marginatus, Lemaireocereus marginatus, Stenocereus marginatus and Lophocereus marginatus. The current treatment places these names under Marginatocereus marginatus. The 2025 classification by de Vos and colleagues recognizes Marginatocereus and Lophocereus separately. Tracing these names connects historical observations with the appropriate modern account. [2-WWW] [de Vos et al. 2025]
Native distribution and human-mediated movement
The genus is native to Mexico. POWO also records introduction to the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands and Cambodia. Population origin therefore matters when comparing records. Local habitat and phenology are described in the account of its single species. [2-WWW]
Flowers available at night and by day
Research on the genus’s single species documented the participation of two vertebrate groups in pollination. In the central Mexican population observed, flowers opened at night and remained available the following day. Bats and hummingbirds visited them. Restricting the time of access to flowers indicated that the combined activity of both groups promoted fruit set. The detailed results concern local red-flowered plants. [Dar et al. 2006]