Name: from the Greek word acantha, meaning spine, and the Latin word cereus, meaning candle.
English: Barbed-wire cactus; Night-blooming cereus; Sword-pear; Dildo cactus; Triangle cactus.
Spanish: Chaco; Nun-tsusuy; Órgano; Órgano-alado de pitaya.
Genus: 6 species.
Region: tropical Americas, from Florida to Colombia, Caribbean.
Botany: shrubs with arching or climbing stems up to several meters in height; stems with 3 to 5 ribs, typically thin, with stout spines; flowers pretty, white, funnel-shaped, night blooming, ± 20 cm long, ± 9 cm wide