Loxanthocereus acanthurus

Loxanthocereus acanthurus is a species of Loxanthocereus found in Peru.

Description
Loxanthocereus acanthurus grows shrubby with prostrate to creeping, ascending or hanging, up to 30 centimeters (rarely up to 50 centimeters) long shoots that have a diameter of 2-5 centimeters. There are 15-18 low, rounded ribs divided by sharp indentations into indistinct protuberances. The 2-5 (rarely up to 6) central spines are yellowish and up to 1.5 centimeters long. They are difficult to distinguish from the 20-40 short, thin, yellowish radial spines.

The straight or slightly curved, crooked, scarlet flowers are 4 to 9.5 inches long. The spherical fruits reach a diameter of 2 to 2.5 centimeters.

Subspecies
There are two recognized subspecies:

Distribution
Loxanthocereus acanthurus is distributed in the Peruvian regions of Ancash, Lima and Ica at altitudes of 300 to 2500 meters.

Taxonomy
The first description as Cereus acanthurus was in 1913 by Friedrich Karl Johann Vaupel. The specific epithet acanthurus is derived from the Greek words akanthos for 'thorn' and oura for 'tail' and refers to the dense spines on the shoots of the species. Other nomenclature synonyms are Borzicactus acanthurus (Vaupel) Britton and Rose (1920), Binghamia acanthura (Vaupel) Borg (1951), Cleistocactus acanthurus (Vaupel) DR Hunt (1987) and Echinopsis acanthura (Vaupel) Molinari (2015).