Pilosocereus Royenii (Puerto Rico Dry Forests)

You will receive a 7-10″ plant.  This year I am excited and proud to bring the Royen’s tree cactus – Pilosocereus royenii – into cultivation on a substantial scale for the first time.  Known as “sebucán” in Puerto Rico, it is a Caribbean dry forest cactus that branches and can reach 24ft tall.

 

It is under serious threat in its habitat there by the Harrisia mealybug – Hypogeoccocus pungens – which causes deformed growth “tumors”, stunts reproductive capacity, and eventually kills the cactus.  This is easily preventable in cultivation but not in habitat.

 

My seedlings were grown from self-pollinated clone seeds germinated in late 2020 from the mother stem pictured, which originates from mainland Puerto Rico. Royen’s tree cactus is a hardy and underutilized columnar cactus of striking and mysterious beauty, featuring dark pine-green waxy skin, white wooly tips, and evening blooms the color of beach sunsets at maturity. 

 

It thrives in central and south Florida gardens with a well-drained mix of organic cactus soil and fine-grain black basalt and could be grown into a great living fence or in northern greenhouses, and sunrooms with bright light.  It has been enthusiastically received by collectors throughout the country since I first offered it for sale in early 2022.