years earlier when his ship visited the Galápagos. In 1920, Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose erected the genus Brachycereus, synonymizing both Weber's Cereus thouarsii and another cactus from the Galápagos, Cereus nesioticus, under the name Brachycereus thouarsii. They placed Weber's Cereus galapagensis in a separate new genus, Jasminocereus, as Jasminocereus galapagensis. In 1935, Curt Backeberg realized that only Cereus nesioticus was the Brachycereus of Britton and Rose, and later placed Weber's Cereus thouarsii in Jasminocereus. In 1971, Anderson and Walkington carried out fieldwork and studied herbarium material, and decided that Weber's two species were actually the juvenile and mature forms of the same species. The earliest epithet for the species is thouarsii. Additional species of Jasminocereus have been described, but they are now regarded as part of a single species, which may be divided into three varieties. J. sclerocarpus is then a synonym of J. thouarsii var. sclerocarpus and J. howellii of J. thouarsii var. delicatus. Other sources do not recognize distinct varieties. Phylogeny and classification Molecular studies show that the two endemic Galápagos genera, Jasminocereus and Brachycereus, are sisters, with their closest relative being the South American mainland species Armatocereus: In one widely used classification of cacti, Armatocereus and Jasminocereus are placed in the tribe Browningieae of the subfamily Cactoideae, and Brachycereus is placed in the tribe Trichocereeae, which is inconsistent with the cladogram above. A classification produced in 2010 by Nyffeler and Eggli puts all three genera in a much larger tribe Phyllocacteae. Distribution and habitat Jasminocereus thouarsii is endemic to the Galápagos, where it is found on Fernandina, Floreana, Isabela, San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz and Santiago, plus some islets, including Bartolomé. It is found in arid areas, from the coast up to about on the larger islands. Conservation Jasminocereus thouarsii was rated as "vulnerable" in the IUCN Red List of 2002, but this was downgraded to "least concern" in 2013. As with all plants and animals of the Galápagos, collecting or disturbing J. thouarsii is strictly controlled by the Ecuadorian government; the complete range of the species lies within the Galápagos National Park and Natural World Heritage Site. Trade in the species is controlled under CITES Appendix II. Uses The fruits of Jasminocereus thouarsii (particularly var. delicatus for those who distinguish varieties) have been used to make a fruit juice described as "refreshing". See also References External links Cactoideae Cactoideae genera Endemic flora of Galápagos