Epiphyllum phyllanthus (L.) Haw. (Cactaceae)

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Espinoza, R., Guadamuz, A., Perez, D., Chavarria, F. and Masís, A. 1998. Epiphyllum phyllanthus Species Page (Cactaceae), June 12, 1998. Species Home Pages, Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. http://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr

Epiphitic cactus with various cladodes (jointed and flattened stems) that can be confused with leaves.

Flower:

Fruit:

The fruit is red (5 cm long) and originates from the edges of the cladodes. They have numerous small black seeds.

View of the fruit

Leaves:

They are not true leaves, they are flattened stems that look like leaves.

Bark and wood:

Whole plant architecture:

View of the plant

Similar species:

Verification:

II.Geographic distribution:

International:

In Costa Rica:

In the Area de Conservación Guanacaste:

Map of macro-habitats of the ACG

III. Natural History:

IV. How to find:

It is an epiphyte easy to locate on tree trunks in the San Cristobal sector.

Acknowledgements.

This project was carried out by the Area de Conservación Guanacaste/CR, with help from INBio/CR, ICBG from the Foggarty center, NIH/USA and NSF/USA. We would also like to thank Barry Hammel for the identification of this species.

Thanks to Kate Beattie for helping with the image management and the translation of this species page.

Literature cited: