Background:

The Cuban archipelago has the greatest diversity of cactus in the Caribbean. Although in recent years there have been numerous studies that facilitate the delimitation of their species, existing inventories have not yet considered all available evidence.

Questions:

How many native and naturalized cacti are there in Cuba? What percentage of native cacti are endemic?

Studied species:

Cactaceae family.

Study site and dates:

Cuba, 2013-2023.

Methods:

The information available on Cuban cacti was reviewed that includes lists or descriptions of species, taxonomic, systematic and phylogenetic studies. In addition, an extensive field work was carried out for a decade that covered the entire island of Cuba. Native species were considered that are present in the archipelago due to natural causes and that did not arrive due to human intervention, while as a naturalized species, those that were introduced, intentional or not, by different human activities and that can be reproduced (sexual or asexual) regularly and maintain populations for several generations without anthropic intervention.

Results:

We recorded for Cuba 71 native or naturalized species of 20 genera of cacti, of these, 49 species are native (75.51 % endemic) and 22 naturalized.

Conclusions:

Cuba is ratified as the island with greater diversity of cactus in the Caribbean.

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