Leuenbergeria guamacho
species of cactus in Central America
Leuenbergeria guamacho, the guamacho, is a species of plant that belongs to the cactus family and is one of the few cacti with spines that bears a strong resemblance to deciduous trees.
Description
The tree is slow-growing, up to 8 m (26 ft) tall, with a brown trunk, a rounded crown up to 3 m (9.8 ft) in diameter, with simple alternate leaves. Its flowers are bright yellow. The fruit is edible, round, and yellow-green when ripe, filled with numerous black seeds.
Range
Originating in the American tropics from Mexico to northern South America, it can be found in great numbers in the mountains near the Venezuelan coast. It is found in drier regions and most notably in the national parks of Venezuela.
Taxonomy
Leuenbergeria guamacho was first described as Pereskia guamacho by Frédéric Albert Constantin Weber and first recorded in the Dictionnaire d'Horticulture 2: 938–939. 1898. It has also been formerly classified as Rodocactus guamacho, Pereskia colombiana, Rhodocactus colombianus, and Rhodocactus guamacho.
References
José Antonio del Cañizo (2002). Palmeras.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Leuenbergeria guamacho” is species of cactus in Central America. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Leuenbergeria, guamacho and species, not as a finished interpretation.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q92390575. The first chronological checks are 1898 and 2002.
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This entry incorporates text from “Leuenbergeria guamacho” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.