In 1824, George Ackermann brought a part of a stem with him from Mexico and gave that to Tate who succeeded in flowering the specimen.

Another specimen raised from Mexican seeds confirmed that this was really a novelty from Mexico and not a hybrid.

During the latter half of the 19th century, when cacti gave away to ferns, palms and orchids, only the toughest survived and as D. ackermannii is quite tricky it soon became lost in cultivation.

About the same time some gardener succeeded in crossing D. phyllanthoides and D. speciosus producing a lovely red flowered hybrid.

In 1943, Charles Gilles rediscovered the species in high, nearly unclimbable trees near Jalapa.