Family: Cactaceae
Selenicereus anthonyanus (fishbone cactus, zig-zag cactus) is a cactus native to Southern Mexico. This cactus is grown as an ornamental for its leaf-like stems and fragrant, nocturnal flowers. Selenicereus anthonyanus is native to the moist, lowland rainforests in southern Mexico, specifically in the regions of Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco, and Veracruz. It can be found growing at elevations ranging from 180 meters (approximately 590 feet) to 500 meters (about 1,600 feet) above sea leveI. It is naturalized in the Galapagos Islands and possibly Brazil, and is possibly naturalizing on Maui and Hawaiʻi island. Its ability to thrive in shaded tropical ecosystems, combined with its traits of smothering growth habit and ability to grow vegetatively make it a potential risk for invasiveness.
High Risk Traits:
- Grows, and could spread, in regions with tropical climates
- Described as semi-naturalized in Brazil, and persisting, or possibly naturalizing on Maui and Hawaii islands
- Spiny
- Tolerates shade
- Climbing, and potentially smothering, habit
- Reproduces by seeds (rarely) and vegetative fragments
- Seeds, if produced, dispersed by birds, or other frugivores
- Dispersed by people through intentional cultivation and possibly through discarded garden waste or vegetative fragments
- Gaps in biological and ecological information may reduce accuracy of risk prediction
Low Risk Traits:
- No reports of negative impacts where introduced
- Non-toxic
- Rarely, if ever flowers, limiting potential for long distance dispersal
- Suspected of being pollinated by nocturnal pollinators (bats or hawk moths), which may limit seed set, when flowers are produced
