Rhipsalis aurea
| Rhipsalis aurea | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Rhipsalis aurea | ||||||||||||
| MFFreitas & JMABraga |
Rhipsalis aurea is a species of plant in the genus Rhipsalis from the cactus family(Cactaceae).
description
Vegetative characteristics
Rhipsalis aurea is a 60 to 80 cm long epilithic or epiphytic plant. The roots are firm, grayish white and without adventitious roots . The individual branches are almost upright to almost horizontal or slightly hanging, only young shoots grow completely upright. The branching takes place almost at the tip of the shoot (subacroton) up to the middle of the shoot (mesoton).
The individual segments of the stem axis are cylindrical. The first-order segments keep growing. The basal segments are 15 to 45 cm long, measure 4 to 6 mm in diameter and are almost upright, firm and woody. The next three to four segments are 14 to 20 cm long and 3.7 to 4.7 mm in diameter. They are also almost upright and firm, but are colored succulent and dark green. From these first-order segments, smaller segments branch out with limited growth, they are only 2 to 9 cm long, their diameter is 1.2 to 3 mm. They are arranged hanging, are succulent and dark green. The areoles measure 0.5 mm in diameter and are green, reddish or brown in color. They are accompanied by one or two scales, about 0.5 by 1 mm in size and triangular in shape. Hairiness can be found on young segments, but it is absent on older segments.
blossoms
The bell-shaped flowers are 1.6 to 1.7 by 1.5 to 2 cm in size at flowering time. They are on the areoles, but not every areole has to have a flower. They are not clearly sunk into the areoles. They are not fragrant and open at night, standing near the tip or to the side and either sloping or almost upright to the segments. The pericarpel is 0.2 to 0.3 by 0.4 mm in size and green to yellow in color, swirl-shaped and clearly incised. The bracts are golden yellow, have no markings and are membranous, their size is 0.2 to 1.3 by 0.3 to 0.6 mm. Towards the center they become longer and thinner, their shape ranges from almost circular or triangular to elongated, at the top they are rounded. The outer bracts are splayed to almost upright, the inner ones are upright.
The stamens are colored yellow, they stand apart in multiple rows or are clearly separated into two groups, of which the outer one is splayed and the inner one is upright. The stamens are 4 to 7 mm long, the anthers 0.5 to 0.6 mm. The ovary is vortex-shaped and 1.7 to 2 mm long. On it stands an 8 mm long, yellow colored stylus , which ends in a scar that is four to six times lobed . This is 2 mm long, elongated yellow and widely spread.
The fruit is not open and hairless. When immature, it is cup-shaped, heavily incised and green. When ripe it becomes indented spherical and becomes translucent green, it then has a size of 6 to 7.7 by 6 to 8 mm.
Systematics
Within the genus Rhipsalis , the species is classified in the subgenus Erythrorhipsalis . The species most similar to Rhipsalis aurea is Rhipsalis pulchra .
Occurrence and locations
The species is only known from five collections from three different locations. These are located in the Três Picos State Park in the city of Nova Friburgo in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro .
The locations are at altitudes between 1200 and 1700 m and belong to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
proof
- Maria de Fátima Freitas, Alice de Moraes Calvente and João Marcelo Alvarenga Braga: A New Species of Rhipsalis (Cactaceae) from Brazil . In: Systematic Botany , Volume 34, Number 3, 2009. pp. 505-509