Taxon: Selenicereus grandiflorus (L.) Britton & Rose

Summary

Genus:

Selenicereus

Family:

Cactaceae

Subfamily:

Cactoideae

Tribe:

Hylocereeae

Nomen number:

33593

Place of publication:

Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 12:430. 1909

Protologue link:

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/367849

Verified:

03/02/2004 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

2 (0 active, 0 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Selenicereus grandiflorus (L.) Britton & Rose subsp. donkelaarii (Salm-Dyck) Ralf Bauer (0 active accession[s])
Selenicereus grandiflorus (L.) Britton & Rose subsp. grandiflorus (0 active accession[s])
Selenicereus grandiflorus (L.) Britton & Rose subsp. hondurensis (K. Schum. ex Weing.) Ralf Bauer (0 active accession[s])
Selenicereus grandiflorus (L.) Britton & Rose subsp. lauteneri Ralf Bauer (0 active accession[s])

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Basionym
Cactus grandiflorus L.

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Cereus grandiflorus (L.) Mill.

No images

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Benson, L. 1982. The cacti of the United States and Canada Note: = Cereus grandiflorus (L.) Mill.
Bravo-Hollis, H. & H. Sánchez-Mejorada. 1978. Las Cactáceas de México, vol. 1 - 1978, vols. 2,3 - 1991 462.
CITES. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices I, II and III (on-line resource).
Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago. Note: = Cereus grandiflorus (L.) Mill.
Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Fournet, J. 1978. Flore illustrée des phanerogames de Guadeloupe et de Martinique
Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
IPGRI. New World Fruits Database (on-line resource).
Korotkova, N. et al. 2017. A phylogenetic framework for the Hylocereeae (Cactaceae) and implications for the circumscription of the genera. Phytotaxa 327(1):25. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.327.1.1.
León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Liogier, H. A. & L. F. Martorell. 1982. Flora of Puerto Rico and adjacent islands: a systematic synopsis.
Liogier, H. A. & L. F. Martorell. 2000. Flora of Puerto Rico and adjacent islands: a systematic synopsis, ed. 2.
McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Moscoso, R. M. 1943. Catalogus florae domingensis.
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
St. John, H. 1973. List and summary of the flowering plants in the Hawaiian islands
Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark. 1946-1976. Flora of Guatemala.
Stevens, W. D. et al., eds. 2001. Flora de Nicaragua. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85(1-3).
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:690. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
Walters, S. M. et al., eds. 1986-2000. European garden flora.

Common names

Language	Name	note	seq	Citation
English	night-blooming cereus		1	McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
English	queen-of-the-night		1	Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
German	Königin der Nacht		2	Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen
Spanish	cardón		2	Liogier, H. A. & L. F. Martorell. 2000. Flora of Puerto Rico and adjacent islands: a systematic synopsis, ed. 2.
Spanish	pitayita de culebra	as Selenicereus coniflorus	2
Spanish	reina de la noche		2	Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family
Swedish	nattens drottning		2	Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Tamaulipas		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:690. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Campeche		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:690. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Chiapas		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:690. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Oaxaca		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:690. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Quintana Roo		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:690. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Tabasco		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:690. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:690. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Yucatán		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:690. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Cayman Islands			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Cuba			León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Dominican Republic			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Haiti			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Jamaica			Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Nicaragua			Stevens, W. D. et al., eds. 2001. Flora de Nicaragua. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85(1-3).
2	Cultivated					also cult.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Florida		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Bahamas			Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago. Note: = Cereus grandiflorus (L.) Mill.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Barbados			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Guadeloupe			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Martinique			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Netherlands Antilles			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Puerto Rico		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Virgin Islands, U.S.		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Virgin Islands (British)			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
6	Other					exact native range obscure

Native
Northern America

NORTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Tamaulipas]
SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Yucatán]

Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica
CENTRAL AMERICA: Nicaragua

Cultivated (also cult.)
Naturalized
Northern America

SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Florida]

Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Netherlands Antilles, Bahamas, Barbados, Guadeloupe, Martinique, United States [Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, U.S.], Virgin Islands (British)

Other (exact native range obscure)

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago. Note: = Cereus grandiflorus (L.) Mill.
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
Stevens, W. D. et al., eds. 2001. Flora de Nicaragua. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85(1-3).
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:690. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Reference
Environmental	ornamental	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Environmental	ornamental	Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Environmental	ornamental	Walters, S. M. et al., eds. 1986-2000. European garden flora.
Medicines	folklore	Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Medicines	folklore	McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=33593. Accessed 11 May 2026.