Species · genus Acanthocereus · Cactaceae

Barbed-wire Cactus

Acanthocereus tetragonus (L.) Hummelinck

Also known as: Triangle Cactus · Sword-pear · Night-blooming Cereus · Chaco

Growth habit

columnar, thicket-forming cactus

Native range

Florida and south Texas through Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America

Reference · A. tetragonus

Cultivars of A. tetragonus

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

‘Monstrosus’

Acanthocereus tetragonus 'Monstrosus'

Early

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

A columnar, thicket-forming cactus of coastal Florida, south Texas, and the tropics — sharply spined, fast-growing, and drought-tough. Indoors it is best known through its miniature monstrose form, the fairy castle cactus. The spines are the hazard here — "painfully spiny" — so handle with care and keep it out of reach; no chemical toxicity is on record.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes drawn from cited sources

Light: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (ACTE4): part shade; retail guidance bright to full sun — banded bright indirect
Water: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (ACTE4): low–medium water use, high drought tolerance — rendered at the catalog's dry-succulent 28-day floor

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 28 days

Humidity

Not documented

Temperature

Not documented

Soil mix

Not documented

Propagation

Not documented

Fertilizing

Not documented

Growth rate

Not documented

Flowering

Not documented

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (ACTE4): part shade; retail guidance bright to full sun — banded bright indirect · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (ACTE4): low–medium water use, high drought tolerance — rendered at the catalog's dry-succulent 28-day floor · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthocereus_tetragonus + https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ACTE4

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Barbed-wire Cactus yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — and a clear photo of your plant are exactly what keep this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.