In the latest literature, Pilosocereus zehntneri (Britton & Rose) F. Ritter is considered a ssp. of Pilosocereus gounellei (F. A. C. Weber) Byles & G. D. Rowley (Anderson 2001, 580-581; Hunt et al. 2006, text: 237; Anderson & Eggli 2011, 540-541; Hunt 2013, xxviii; Hunt 2016, 113, 142). The surveys we carried out in the habitats of the two taxa, in 2016 in Brazil, in the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia, highlighted a clear distinction in the habit of the two taxa, characters that we know to be more stable than others at the morphological level (i.e. floral traits, pollination syndromes etc.), in distinguishing taxa (Schlumpberger & Renner 2012). In fact, while P. zehntneri manifests itself as a tall bush, with candelabra branches, tending to assume an arboreal habit (A&M 1380, A&M 1382, A&M 1386, A&M 1389, A&M 1394, A&M 1402), P. gounellei forms low and massive bushes, that expand horizontally, rather than vertically, with candelabra-like branches too, but with a more massive structure of the branch and the rib (diameter <7 cm in the first taxon vs. <9 in the second) (A&M 1430, A&M 1433, A&M 1435). As explained above, we prefer to recognize both taxa at specific level. (Quoted from Anceschi & Magli 2021, 82)