Stenocereus gummosus
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Stenocereus gummosus |
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| ( Engelm. Ex Brandegee ) ACGibson & KEHorak |
Stenocereus gummosus is a species of the genus Stenocereus in the cactus family. Spanish common names are "Pitahaya Agria" and "Pitayo Agrio".
description
Stenocereus gummosus is a sprawling, shrub-like plant with little branched trunks. The plant reaches a height of up to about three meters, longer trunks bend due to their weight. When bent trunks reach the ground again, the cactus takes root again and can form new branches.
Stenocereus gummosus grows extremely slowly and is very long-lived: A comparison of photo materials from the years 1905 and 1996 showed hardly noticeable changes in the size of the plants. The cactus is slightly frost tolerant.
The flowers of the Stenocereus gummosus are white to pink or purple, up to 20 cm long with a diameter of up to 8 cm, its fruits are in the form of small oranges in light red color. The main flowering time is summer, but there are also other times of the year after rainfall. The fruits are sweet and are considered to be one of the tastiest of all cacti plants. The fruits have a long season, but grow only sparingly, which is why commercial use is not profitable. The juice of Stenocereus gummosus is poisonous and was used by indigenous people for fishing. The brown seeds reach a length of 2.5 mm.
Distribution, systematics and endangerment
Stenocereus gummosus is widespread on the Baja California Peninsula , but does not occur at higher elevations or in the dry northeast. Further occurrences can be found on offshore islands and in the coastal area of the Sonoran Desert .
The first description as Cereus gummosus was in 1889 by Townshend Stith Brandegee . Arthur Charles Gibson and Karl E. Horak placed them in the genus Stenocereus in 1978 . Synonyms are Lemaireocereus gummosus (Engelm. Ex Brandegee) Britton & Rose , Machaerocereus gumosus (Engelm. Ex Brandegee) Britton & Rose and Rathbunia gummosa (Engelm. Ex Brandegee) PVHeath .
In the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN , the species is listed as " Least Concern (LC) ". H. listed as not endangered.
literature
- Steven J. Phillips, Patricia Wentworth Comus, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (Tucson, Ariz.): A natural history of the Sonoran Desert . University of California Press, 2000, ISBN 0520219805 , p. 199.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Townshend S. Brandegee: A Collection of Plants from Baja California, 1889 . In: Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences . 2nd episode, Volume 2, 1889, p. 162, (online) .
- ↑ Arthur C. Gibson, Karl E. Horak: Systematic anatomy and phylogeny of Mexican columnar cacti . In: Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden . Volume 65, Number 4, 1978, p. 1007, JSTOR: 2398781 .
- ↑ Stenocereus gummosus in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2013.2. Posted by: Burquez Montijo, A., Porter, JM & Felger, RS, 2010. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
further reading
- R. Clark-Tapia, F. Molina-Freaner: The genetic structure of a columnar cactus with a disjunct distribution: Stenocereus gummosus in the Sonoran desert . In: Heredity . Volume 90, number 6, 2003, pp. 443-450, doi : 10.1038 / sj.hdy.6800252 .
