Search / Plant Profile / Peniocereus greggii var. transmontanus

Plant Profile

Desert Night-blooming Cereus (Peniocereus greggii var. transmontanus)

The beautiful white flowers of the desert night-blooming cereus open in the evening and last only one night. Photo Credit: Lynda Pritchett-Kozak

Global Rank: T3 - Vulnerable
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Cactaceae
State: AZ
Nature Serve ID: 141405
Lifeform: Shrub
Categories of Interest: Cacti/Succulents
Date Inducted in National Collection: 03/14/1986

Description:

One of the threats to this species comes from its popularity--this is a plant with a history of religious, medicinal, and ornamental use. Both private and commercial collectors have had a serious impact on the abundance of this species in its natural habitat by digging entire plants up. Ironically, the plant itself is relatively easy to propagate, so there is no need to dig entire plants up. (New Mexico Rare Plant Technical Council 1999) Peniocereus greggii is a slender-stemmed cactus with a large underground tuber that can reach the size of a basketball, and weigh as much as 15 pounds. Occasional specimens are known to weigh as much as 87 pounds. It is reported that native Americans utilized the tuber for food. The gray stems are four to six ribbed, to 12 mm in diameter, and resemble the stems of the shrubs that often support them. The stems are armed with short dark spines along the ribs. The white, scented flowers are large and beautiful and bloom for only one night. Fruits are red, ovoid, sparsely spiny, fleshy and many-seeded.

Where is Desert Night-blooming Cereus (Peniocereus greggii var. transmontanus) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Peniocereus greggii is found primarily in Sonoran desertscrub in central regions of the state, in areas where Larrea tridentata is found (Gibson and Horack 1978).

Distribution:

The known range has been expanded to include large areas in central Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, western Texas, and south into Sonora, Mexico at elevations below 4000 ft (Benson 1982).

States & Provinces:

Desert Night-blooming Cereus can be found in Arizona

Which CPC Partners conserve Desert Night-blooming Cereus (Peniocereus greggii var. transmontanus)?

Desert Botanical Garden

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

10/06/2020

Desert Botanical Garden has five plants salvaged from an area slated to be destroyed for construction of the Central Arizona Project Canal, 3 cuttings from those plants, and approximately 10,000 seeds produced in cultivation. (Desert Botanical Garden 2000)

10/06/2020

10/06/2020

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Kathleen C. Rice

01/01/2010

The primary threat is urban development, including construction of canals, housing, mines, quarries, roads and reservoirs. Entire populations have been eliminated by private and commercial collectors who dig up entire plants. (New Mexico Rare Plant Te

Kathleen C. Rice

01/01/2010

There is one large, relatively widespread population occurring over the east-central portion of Arizona, with many sub-populations.

Kathleen C. Rice

01/01/2010

Kathleen C. Rice

01/01/2010

There is no formal management plan.

Kathleen C. Rice

01/01/2010

Research needs include understanding this species' reproductive biology and ecology as well as investigating the impact of Larrea tridentata on population dynamics.