Weberbauerocereus is a small genus of columnar cacti in the family Cactaceae, native to the Andean regions of Bolivia and Peru. Taxonomically, the genus is considered intermediate between the genera Trichocereus and Cleistocactus, occupying a transitional position within the tribe of ceroid cacti.
Plants in the genus range from shrubby to tree-like in habit, branching at the base or higher up the stem. The columnar shoots are erect or arching and sometimes climbing. Areoles are white to yellowish and woolly, producing often robust thorns.
The flowers are large and tubular to bell-shaped, coloured whitish, brownish pink, or reddish, and typically open at night—a classic trait of bat-pollinated or moth-pollinated cactus lineages. The pericarpel and floral tube are densely covered with scales and hair. Fruits are spherical, greenish-purple to orange-yellow, 3–5 centimetres in diameter, and conspicuously hairy. The pulp is white, and the persistent flower remains attached after ripening. Seeds are black and shiny.
The genus honours the German-Peruvian botanist Augusto Weberbauer (1871–1948), whose decades of fieldwork in the Peruvian Andes produced foundational documentation of Andean flora.
Etymology
The name Weberbauerocereus honours Augusto Weberbauer, a German-Peruvian botanist renowned for his extensive botanical research in the Peruvian Andes. The suffix -cereus is a standard Latin element meaning "candle" or "wax," widely applied to columnar cactus genera.
Distribution
The genus is native to Bolivia and Peru, where species inhabit Andean landscapes. With ten accepted descendants recorded by GBIF, the genus represents a modest but distinct element of the high-Andean and inter-Andean valley cactus flora.
Taxonomy Notes
Weberbauerocereus is regarded as taxonomically intermediate between Trichocereus and Cleistocactus within the family Cactaceae. As of October 2025, Plants of the World Online accepts three species recorded in the Ploi database: W. madidiensis, W. winterianus, and W. weberbaueri; GBIF records 10 descendant taxa under this genus name.
