Pilosocereus polygonus

Pilosocereus polygonus
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
List
  • Cactus polygonus Lam.
  • Cactus royenii L.
  • Cephalocereus monoclonos (DC.) Britton & Rose
  • Cephalocereus polygonus (Lam.) Britton & Rose
  • Cephalocereus royenii (L.) Britton & Rose
  • Cephalocereus schlumbergeri (F.A.C.Weber ex K.Schum.) Urb.
  • Cereus monoclonos DC.
  • Cereus polygonus (Lam.) DC.
  • Cereus royenii (L.) Mill.
  • Pilocereus monoclonos (DC.) F.M.Knuth
  • Pilocereus plumieri Lem.
  • Pilocereus polygonus (Lam.) Salm-Dyck
  • Pilocereus royenii (L.) Haw. ex Rümpler
  • Pilocereus schlumbergeri F.A.C.Weber ex K.Schum.
  • Pilosocereus monoclonos (DC.) Byles & G.D.Rowley
  • Pilosocereus royenii (L.) Byles & G.D.Rowley, tentatively listed as a synonym.

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. As of July 2025, Plants of the World Online accepted Pilosocereus royenii as a synonym; however it has also been treated as a separate species. Broadly applied English names include dildo cactus, pipe organ cactus, and Royen's tree cactus.