Coryphantha

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Coryphantha
Coryphantha ramillosa

Coryphantha ramillosa

Systematics
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Order : Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family : Cactus family (Cactaceae)
Subfamily : Cactoideae
Tribe : Cacteae
Genre : Coryphantha
Scientific name
Coryphantha
( Engelm. ) Lem.

Coryphantha is a genus of plants fromthe cactus family (Cactaceae). The botanical name of the genus is derived from the ancient Greek nouns κορυφή koryphe for "peak" and ἄνθος ánthos for "blossom", "flower". He refers to the flowers appearing near the shoot tip.

description

Vegetative characteristics

The species of the genus Coryphantha grow individually or form groups. Their spherical to cylindrical shoots reach heights of growth of up to 50 centimeters. The cylindrical warts on them are often greatly elongated. They are circular, pyramidal or bulged on one side in cross-section. There is a furrow on the warts that extends almost to the base of the warts. The areoles are usually at the tip of the warts. Sometimes they are completely divided into two and connected to each other by furrows. In some species the furrows are greatly reduced. Occasionally, some of the thorns are transformed into colored extra-floral nectar glands .

blossoms

The flowers appear on young warts near the shoot and arise from the axillary part of the wart groove . They open in the day. The funnel-shaped to bell-shaped flowers are usually yellowish to greenish in color. More rarely, they are red to magenta in color. The flowers are up to 10 centimeters long and have a diameter of up to 6.5 centimeters. Your pericarpel and the flower tube are bare or have a few small scales.

Fruits and seeds

The spherical to egg-shaped, elongated or club-shaped fruits are green or yellowish in color. They are bald, juicy on the inside and do not tear open. A persistent remnant of flowers adheres to them. The fruits contain somewhat egg-shaped to kidney-shaped - with Coryphantha gracilis spherical-cap-shaped - seeds . The shiny, smooth seed coat is light to dark brown to reddish brown and covered with a mesh pattern. The seeds are 1 to 2 millimeters long.

distribution

The majority of the species is common in Mexico . However, some species are also found in the United States in the southern states of Texas , New Mexico and Arizona . In their natural locations they grow in rock rubble, associated with loose accompanying vegetation.

Systematics

The genus Coryphantha was established by Charles Lemaire in 1868 . Its type is Mammillaria sulcata .

In 2001, Reto F. Dicht and Adrian D. Lüthy subdivided the genre into two sub-genres with the following sections:

Subgenus Neocoryphantha :
As the plants grow, the furrows on the warts lengthen and can reach up to three quarters of the wart length. The nectar glands are located in the wart groove or axillae. The seeds are kidney-shaped. The shoot tissue is watery or contains mucus.

  • Section Lepidocoryphantha :
    The increasingly longer wart furrows can reach up to half the length of the wart. Flowers are only formed when the furrow length has reached its maximum. The outer bracts are ciliate on their edge. The shoot tissue contains mucus.
  • Robustispina section :
    The increasingly longer wart furrows can reach up to three quarters of the wart length. Flowers are only formed when the maximum furrow length is reached. The shoot tissue is watery
  • Section Neocoryphantha :
    The plants are characterized by an abrupt transition from completely furrowless, sterile areoles to warts with long furrows. Flowers are not formed until there are long furrows.
  • Ottonis section :
    young plants have no furrows on the warts. Later there is a sudden transition to warts with furrows extending over the entire length of the wart. The shoot tissue contains mucus.

Subgenus Coryphantha :
As the plants grow, the furrows on the warts lengthen and finally extend over the entire length of the wart. Flowers are only formed when the full furrow length has been reached. There are no nectar glands in the wart groove or axillae. However, nectar glands are occasionally present near the areoles. The seeds are kidney-shaped to spherical. The shoot tissue is watery.

  • Coryphantha section :
    The green fruits are juicy, the seeds kidney-shaped.
  • Section Gracilicoryphantha :
    The initially green and juicy fruits turn red and dry out later. The seeds are spherical.

The genus includes the following species:

Coryphantha odorata Boed is unclear .

Synonyms of the genus are Aulacothele (Lem.) Monv. , Glandulifera Frič , Lepidocoryphantha Backeb. , Coumarinia (Knuth) Buxb. and Escobrittonia Doweld .

proof

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Edward F. Anderson : The great cactus lexicon . Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8001-4573-1 , p. 147-148 .
  2. ↑ Charles Lemaire: Les Cactées Histoire, Patrie organ de vegetation Inflorescence Culture etc. Paris 1868, p 32 ( online ).
  3. ^ Reto F. Dicht , Adrian D. Lüthy : A new conspectus of the genus Coryphantha . In: Cactaceae Systematics Initiatives . Number 11, 2001.
  4. ^ Edward F. Anderson : The great cactus lexicon . Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8001-4573-1 , p. 147-161 .

Further literature

  • Allan Dale Zimmerman: Systematics of the Genus Coryphantha (Cactaceae) . Ph.D. dissertation. University of Texas, 1985.

Web links

Commons : Coryphantha  - collection of images, videos and audio files