Pilosocereus polygonus
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| Pilosocereus polygonus | |
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| Botanical illustration – the lectotype | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cactoideae |
| Genus: | Pilosocereus |
| Species: | P. polygonus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pilosocereus polygonus (Lam.) Byles & G.D.Rowley | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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List
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Pilosocereus polygonus is a species of cactus (family Cactaceae). Like all species in the genus Pilosocereus, it has a shrub- or tree-like growth habit. It has been treated very differently at times. In the narrow circumscription adopted here, it is endemic to Hispaniola, a position adopted by Britton and Rose in 1920 and endorsed in a 2019 review of the genus in the Caribbean and northern Andes. Treatments in the late 1990s and early 2000s used a much broader circumscription, which included species now recognized as separate, thus giving P. polygonus a much wider distribution.[2] As of July 2025[update], Plants of the World Online accepted Pilosocereus royenii as a synonym;[1] however it has also been treated as a separate species.[2] Broadly applied English names include dildo cactus,[3] pipe organ cactus,[4] and Royen's tree cactus.[5]
When Pilosocereus polygonus is narrowly circumscribed, it is a species of cactus having green to gray-green stems with 8–13 ribs. Its branches are ascending, sometimes completely upright. The areoles have rigid spines up to 3 cm (1.2 in) long that are dull yellowish when new. Flowering areoles have dense tufts of silky hairs up to 3 cm (1.2 in) long. Non-flowering areoles have fewer hairs. The flowers are 5–7 cm (2.0–2.8 in) long, with reddish green outer segments (tepals) and white inner segments. The fruit is red.[2]