Echinocereus

Echinocereus
Echinocereus rigidissimus subsp. rubispinus L88
Systematics
Nuclear eudicotyledons Order : Clove-like (Caryophyllales) Family : Cactus family (Cactaceae) Subfamily : Cactoideae Tribe : Pachycereeae Genre : Echinocereus
Scientific name
Echinocereus
Engelm.

Echinocereus is a genus of plants fromthe cactus family (Cactaceae). The botanical name of the genus is derived from the Latin word "echinus" for hedgehog and the genus Cereus and refers to the short columnar, thorny plant bodies.

description

The species of the genus Echinocereus grow individually or branching with prostrate to upright shoots that are spherical to cylindrical. The roots are fibrous or bulbous. The plants reach heights between 1 and 60 centimeters. Echinocereus pensilis can grow up to 4 meters high under suitable conditions. On the tips of the 4 to 26 ribs, which are mostly distinct and rarely broken up into cusps, are the areoles , from which differently shaped thorns can arise.

The small to large, funnel-shaped flowers arise at the top of an areole or break through the epidermis . They are usually brightly colored and open during the day. Their pericarpels and corolla are covered with thorns, bristles and sometimes wool. The scar is mostly green, but sometimes also white.

The spherical to egg-shaped fruits are green to red and mostly thorny. They are mostly juicy and open along a longitudinal slit. The sometimes fragrant fruits contain broadly oval, black, humped seeds 0.8 to 2 millimeters in length.

distribution

The range of the genus Echinocereus extends from the southwest of the United States to southern and central Mexico .

Systematics

The first description was in 1848 by George Engelmann . The type species of the genus is Echinocereus viridiflorus .

According to Nigel Paul Taylor , the genus Echinocereus is divided into eight sections :

• Morangaya section : Long, slender shoots with heights of over 1 meter, rarely up to 4 meters. Abundant aerial roots are formed. There are eight to ten ribs. The tubular, red flowers appear from the areoles. Your scars are whitish.
• Section Erecti : Short shoots up to 1 meter in length, with eight to 23 ribs. The central spine is often flattened or angular. The broad, cup-shaped, variously colored, including yellow, flowers appear from the areoles or rarely break through the epidermis. They are longer than 4.5 inches long. Their loosely arranged bracts are very fleshy at the base. The outer ones are quite long, narrow and strong. The scars are deep green to almost white.
• Triglochidiatus section : The elongated to short and strong and densely branched shoots are shorter than 60 centimeters. There are four to 16 ribs. The pink, orange, or red hummingbird-pollinated flowers break through the epidermis. Sometimes they are skewed and occasionally they close partially or completely over lunchtime. Their scars are bright green.
• Section Echinocereus : As with Section Erecti, but with four to twelve (rarely up to 14) ribs, flowers 2.5 to 10.1 centimeters in length that break through the epidermis and less fleshy and wider outer bracts, which are in an alcohol formalin Solution will become colorless. The scars are light to dark green.
• Costati section : As with the Echinocereus section, however, the flowers turn brown in an alcohol-formalin solution.
• Section Reichenbachii : Spherical to cylindrical shoots with three to 26 ribs and mostly short, slender and very numerous thorns. The short-lived, differently colored, but never hummingbird-pollinated and red or orange-colored flowers appear on or near the areoles, only slightly breaking through the epidermis. The distinct flower tube is covered with numerous areoles above the pericarpel. The very numerous, delicate bracts are not particularly fleshy at their base. The scars are light to dark green.
• Wilcoxia section : → Main article: Wilcoxia
• Section Pulchellus : As with Section Reichenbachi, however, the flowers clearly break through the epidermis. Your pericarpel and the flower tube are covered with a few, often far apart, areoles. The few and / or loosely arranged bracts are narrow. The hardly fleshy to dry fruits contain few seeds.

The following species belong to the genus Echinocereus :

proof

literature

• Edward F. Anderson : The Great Cactus Lexicon . Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8001-4573-1 , p. 190-212 .
• Nigel P. Taylor: The Genus Echinocereus . Kew Magazine Monograph, Timber Press 1985, ISBN 0-88192-052-5

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Urs Eggli, Leonard E. Newton: Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names . Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-642-05597-3 , p. 73.
2. ↑ Botanical Appendix . In: Friedrich Adolph Wislizenus : Memoir of a Tour to Northern Mexico: Connected with Col. Doniphan's Expedition, in 1846 and 1847 . Tippin & Streeper, Washington 1848, p. 91, (online) .
3. ↑ Nigel P. Taylor: The Genus Echinocereus . Kew Magazine Monograph, Timber Press 1985, ISBN 0-88192-052-5
4. ^ Edward F. Anderson : The great cactus lexicon . Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8001-4573-1 , p. 190-212 .

further reading

• JH Cota, RS Wallace: Karyotypic studies in the genus Echinocereus and its taxonomic implications . In: Caryologia . Volume 48, 1995, pp. 105-122, PDF .
• JH Cota, CT Philbrick: Chromosome number variation and polyploidy in the genus Echinocereus . In: American Journal of Botany . Volume 81, 1994, pp. 1054-1062, PDF .
• JH Cota: Pollination syndromes in the genus Echinocereus: A review . In: Cactus and Succulent Journal . Volume 65, 1993, pp. 19-26, PDF .
• Daniel Sánchez, Salvador Arias, Teresa Terrazas: Phylogenetic Relationships in Echinocereus (Cactaceae, Cactoideae) . In: Systematic Botany . Volume 39. Number 4, 2014, 1183-1196 ( doi: 10.1600 / 036364414X683831 ).
• Daniel Sánchez, Teresa Terrazas, Dalia Grego-Valencia, Salvador Arias: Phylogeny in Echinocereus (Cactaceae) based on combined morphological and molecular evidence: taxonomic implications . In: Systematics and Biodiversity . Volume 16, Number 1, 2018 ( doi: 10.1080 / 14772000.2017.1343260 ).

Web links

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

• Echinocereus Online