Cereus

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Cereus
Cereus repandus

Cereus repandus

Systematics
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Order : Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family : Cactus family (Cactaceae)
Subfamily : Cactoideae
Tribe : Cereeae
Genre : Cereus
Scientific name
Cereus
Mill.
Cereus hildmannianus ssp. uruguayanus
Cereus jamacaru
A monstrous form of Cereus jamacaru , a "rock cactus"

Cereus is a genus of plants inthe cactus family (Cactaceae). The botanical name (from Latin cera for wax or candle ) alludes to both the elongated, "straight as a pin" sprouts of the species known at the time it was named, as well as the formerly common name for cacti, "torch thistles".

description

Cereen form small shrubs with prostrate or upright, basal branching sprouts and up to 15 m high trees with large crowns , whereby almost all possible transitional forms are represented. The (sometimes three) four to ten ribs are usually large and widely spaced. The areoles on the ribs are tomentose to woolly, rarely more hairy and usually have relatively few, short and strong thorns .

The flowers emerging from the areoles are funnel-shaped and up to 20 cm in size. Depending on how they adapt to the pollinators, they open during the day (in birds ) or at night (in bats ). The inner bracts are usually white to cream-colored, rarely yellow or pink, the outer bracts are reddish. A typical feature that distinguishes Cereus from other genera is that after the flower envelope has faded and fallen off, the stylus remains on the developing fruit for a while. The fruits, which are juicy when ripe, are greenish or often yellow or red, burst open and release numerous large, black seeds .

Systematics and distribution

After it was established by Philip Miller in 1754, the genus Cereus was a reservoir for all columnar cacti, from which various other genera only emerged over time and with increasing knowledge of the plants. Several generic names ending with -cereus such as Armatocereus , Praecereus and Selenicereus still remind of this.

The genus is distributed in South America in the states Argentina , Bolivia , Brazil , Guyana , Colombia , Paraguay , Peru , Uruguay , Venezuela and in the Caribbean .

The type species of the genus is Cactus hexagonus . The genus Cereus includes the following species:

Synonyms of the genus are Cirinosum Neck. , Mirabella F.Ritter and Piptanthocereus (A.Berger) Riccob.

proof

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edward F. Anderson : The great cactus lexicon . Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8001-4573-1 , p. 102-112 .

further reading

  • David Hunt, Nigel Taylor (Eds.): Notes on miscellaneous genera of Cactaceae (2) . In: Bradleya . Volume 10, 1992, pp. 17-32.

Web links

Commons : Cereus  - album with pictures, videos and audio files