Melocactus smithii

Melocactus smithii
	Melocactus smithii
Systematics
Order :	Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family :	Cactus family (Cactaceae)
Subfamily :	Cactoideae
Tribe :	Cereeae
Genre :	Melocactus
Type :	Melocactus smithii
Scientific name
	Melocactus smithii
	( Alexander ) Buining ex GDRowley

Melocactus smithii is a species of the genus Melocactus in the cactus family(Cactaceae). The specific epithet smithii honors the American botanist Albert Charles Smith (1906–1999).

description

Melocactus smithii grows with green to yellowish green, spherical to cylindrical shoots , which reach heights of up to 20 centimeters with diameters of 13 to 21 centimeters. There are twelve to 16 ribs . The dark brown, yellowish or reddish brown becoming thorns are drowned out whitish gray. The mostly single upwardly curved central spine is up to 5 centimeters long. The eight to nine radial spines are up to 3.2 inches long. The cephalium , consisting of tufts of loosely standing brownish red bristles , is up to 18 centimeters high and has a diameter of 7 to 9 centimeters.

The deep pink flowers are 2.2 to 2.6 inches long and 1.1 inches in diameter. They clearly protrude from the cephalium. The fruits are purple at the top and lighter below, and are 2 to 2.5 centimeters long.

Distribution, systematics and endangerment

Melocactus smithii is distributed in the Brazilian state of Roraima and in the southwest of neighboring Guyana .

It was first described as Cactus smithii in 1939 by Edward Johnston Alexander . Gordon Douglas Rowley placed the species in the genus Melocactus in 1976 .

In the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN , the species is listed as " Least Concern (LC) ". H. listed as not endangered.

proof

literature

Edward F. Anderson : The Great Cactus Lexicon . Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8001-4573-1 , p. 430 .

Individual evidence

↑ Urs Eggli, Leonard E. Newton: Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names . Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-642-05597-3 , p. 223.

^ PJ Braun: Unknown Roraima (Brazil) and its Melocactus occurrences . In: Cacti and other succulents . Volume 70, Number 4, 2019, pp. 97-102.

↑ Lloydia . Volume 2, 1939, p. 200.

^ Repertorium Plantarum Succulentarum . Volume 25, 1976, p. 11.

↑ Melocactus smithii in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Posted by: Taylor, NP & Braun, P., 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2014.

Web links

Commons : Melocactus smithii - Collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] Urs Eggli, Leonard E. Newton: Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names . Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-642-05597-3 , p. 223.

[2] PJ Braun: Unknown Roraima (Brazil) and its Melocactus occurrences . In: Cacti and other succulents . Volume 70, Number 4, 2019, pp. 97-102.

[3] Lloydia . Volume 2, 1939, p. 200.

[4] Repertorium Plantarum Succulentarum . Volume 25, 1976, p. 11.