Harrisia divaricata

Harrisia divaricata is a species of cactus endemic to Hispaniola.

Description
Harrisia divaricata grows as a shrub up to 1 meter tall with upright, richly branched, slender shoots. There are nine blunt ribs. The four brown central spines are 2 to 2.5 centimeters long. The eight to ten marginal spines are white.

The flowers are large and the globose spherical fruits are yellow. Seeds are 1.4–1.65 × 2.05 –2.6 mm.

Distribution
Harrisia divaricata is widespread on Hispaniola growing in scrublands and scrub forest at 5-400 meters.

Taxonomy
The first description as Cactus divaricatus was made in 1785 by Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck. The specific epithet divaricata means 'spread'. Curt Backeberg placed the species in the genus Harrisia in 1960. Further nomenclature synonyms are Cereus divaricatus (Lam.) DC. (1828), Pilocereus divaricatus (Lam.) Lem. (1862) and Harrisia divaricata (Lam.) Lourteig (1991, nom. inval.).