• DESCRIPTION
A genus of treelike plants, reaching up to 5 m high, densely branched, candelabriform. Stems light green to yellowishgreen, with 7-12 ribs more or less sinuous, triangular, areoles situated in a depression. Radial spines few (3-8), central spines often absent.
Flowers diurnal, remaining open at night, self-sterile, tubular funnelform to bell-shaped, nectariferous, white to creamy white, white tinged with pink to greenish-yellow, pollinated by hymenoptera (Apis mellifera, Bombus pensylvanicus, Plabela mexicana, P. frontalis, Xylocopa mexlcanorum), hummingbirds (Amazilia violiceps, Cynanthus latirostris, C. sordidus), bats (Choeronycteris mexicana, Leptonycterls curasoae, L. nivalis), more rarely by Sphingideae. Fruits small, spherical, berry-like, fleshy and juicy, becoming dark red when ripe, edible. Seeds rather small, hat-shaped, black, matt, tuberculate and striate. Dispersal ensured by birds and small mammals. • HABITAT
The genus Polaskia grows from 1500 m up to 2300 m or more in altitude (P. chichipe), in plains or on steep slopes, on clay or limestone soils, in xerophytic scrubs (matorral), together with spiny shrubs as well as other cacti and succulents. • DISTRIBUTION
Mexico (Oaxaca, Puebla).
• ETYMOLOGY
“Hairy Cereus”, referring to the abundant pilosity of the pseudocephalium that most species of the genus carry. • DESCRIPTION
A genus of columnar shrubby or treelike plants, usually strongly branched, candelabriform, reaching up to 10 m high, with stems containing mucilage; epidermis usually smooth, grey-green to bluish more or less glaucous. Ribs 3 to 30, straight, often having a transverse groove under the areole; areoles felted and strongly woolly in the reproductive area, turning into, in some species, a rather longitudinal or lateral cephalium. Spines variable in number and size, mostly straight, aciculate, sometimes translucent.
Flowers nocturnal, self-sterile, tubular to bell-shaped, with a naked tube, white, greenish white to more or less intense pink, pollinated by bats (Anoura geoffroyi, Choeronycteris mexicana, Glossophaga commissarisi, G. leachii, G. longisrostris, G. soricina, Leptonycteris curasoae, L nivalis, L. yerbabuenae, Lonchophylla mordax, Phyllostomus discolor, Sturnira lilium), but also by Sphingideae (Agrius cingulatus, Cocytius antaeus, Erinnyis alope, E. ello ello, E. swairsoni and Manduca rustica), and for the flowers which remain open during the day, visits can be made by bees (Agapostemon sp, Apis mellifera, Halictus sp, Scaptotringona sp, Trigona spinipes, Xylocopa grlsescens), hummingbirds (Amazilia shone, Chlorostilbon aureoventris, Cynanthus latirostris, Heliomaster constanti, H. squamosus and Phaetornls gounellei) or other birds (Icterus gularis, I. pustulatus, Melanerpes aurifrons, Phaetornis superciliosus) and a butterfly (Hamadryas sp,). Fruits more or less globose-flattened, thick-walled, with semicircula and irregular dehiscence, exposing a white or coloured, pink to purple, compact pulp, retaining the remnants of the darkened perianth. Seeds broadly ovate to cochleariform (spoon-shaped), shiny, dark brown to black, striate. Dispersal is ornithophilous (Almophila ruficauda, Aratinga canicularis, Calocitta formosa, Campylorhynchus rufinucha, Crotophaga sulcirostris, Dives dives, Heliomaster constantii, Icterus gularis, I. pustulatus, Melanerpes aurifrons, Mimus gilvus, Passerina versicolor, Quiscalus mexicanus, Zenaida asiatica), also myrmecophilous. • HABITAT
The genus Pilosocereus grows In a wide geographic distribution area, from South America up to Mexico, through southeastern United States and the Caribbean islands, and grows among shrubs and bushes, in deciduous spiny dry forests, mountains, on slopes in tropical valleys, on sandy or rocky soils, sometimes on limestone outcrops, sandstone, granitic, gneissic cliffs or quartz sands, in the campo rupestre (in Brazil, mountainous subtropical savanna), In the caatinga (spiny dry forest of the Brazilian nordeste), from sea level (P. catingicola) up to 1900 m in altitude (P. chrysacanthus), often accompanied with other cacti and succulents. • DISTRIBUTION
Carribbean islands (Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Curacao, La Desirade, Grenadines, Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, Martinique, Monserrat, Nevis, Saba, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Eustatius, St Kitts, St Lucia, Saint Martin, Trinidad and Tobago, Virgin Islands), Belize, Brazil (Alagoas, Bahia, Ceara, Espirito Santo, Goias, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraiba, Pernambuco, Piaui, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rondonla, Roraima, Sao Paulo, Sergipe, Tocantins), Colombia (Cauca, Cesar, Guajira, Magdalena), Cuba (Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba), El Salvador, Ecuador (Azuay, El Oro, Guayas, Manabi), Guatemala (Baja Verapaz, El Progreso, El Quiche, Chiquimula, Huehuetenango, Santa Rosa, Zacapa), Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico (Chiapas, Chihuahua, Colima, Durango, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Yucatan), Paraguay (Amambay, Concepcion), Peru (Piura, Tumbes), Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic (Pedernales), USA (Florida), Venezuela (Bolivar, Falcon, Lara, Merida, Tachlra, Trujillo).
• ETYMOLOGY
Genus honouring Pierre Josef Braun (1959-), German botanist and specialist of the Brazilian cacti. • DESCRIPTION
A genus of usually solitary plants, subglobose becoming elongated (columnar and weakly branched in P. brauniorum), erect or bent, not constricted. Stems with 10-17 ribs (4-5 in P. brauniorum). Epidermis finely granular in P. brauniorum. Cephalium absent (flower-bearing areoles with dense wool in P. brauniorum). Spines aciculate, fragile.
Flowers diurnal, self-sterile, tubular, grouped at the apex, pink magenta, pollinated by hummingbirds (Eupetonema macroura). Fruits globose to egg-shaped, waxy, pink (pale pink to wine red in P. brauniorum), with translucent liquid pulp (red pink in P. brauniorum). Seeds slightly striate and foveolate (smooth in P. brauniorum), black, matt, retaining the remnants of the mucilage. • HABITAT
The genus Pierrebraunia grows at approximately 1000 m in altitude, in bushes, on arid rocky soils, on cliffs or steep slopes, in the cracks of rocks, usually in full sun, among grasses, orchids, bromeliads, as well as other cacti. • DISTRIBUTION
Brazil (Bahia, Minas Gerais).
Currently 2 possible species:
– Pierrebraunia bahiensis (Braun & Esteves) Esteves 1997
– Pierrebraunia brauniorum Esteves 1999 insertae sedis
• ETYMOLOGY
Genus honouring Ludwig G.K. Pfeiffer (1805-1877), German doctor, botanist, physicist and malacologist, author of Enumeratio Cactearum (see portrait above, public domain). • DESCRIPTION
A genus of mainly epiphytic, epilithic or terrestrial plants, erect to pendulous, with branched stems, segments of indeterminate size, branching in the middle (mesotony) of stems, which are variable, angled or flattened, not tuberculate, with marginal areoles having small scales. Spines small, setose to acculate.
Flowers diurnal, sometimes self-fertile, appearing laterally, sometimes numerous, funnel-shaped, usually yellowish, orange or white, pollinated by insects and hummingbirds. Fruits globose, spiny, setose or naked, translucent and veined, whitish, brownish, olive green, pinkish or red orange, sometimes keeping the remnants of the dried perianth. Seeds black, shiny, elongated, with a branched or long-tailed funicle (typical in this genus). • HABITAT
The genus Pfeiffera grows epiphytically in trees, or on rocks (epilithic) in pockets of humus from 600 m up to on 2700 m in altitude, together with bromeliads, orchids and ferns. • DISTRIBUTION
Argentina (Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta, Tucuman), Bolivia (Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Santa Cruz, Tarija).
• ETYMOLOGY
“Similar to Pereskia”, because of the apparent similarity of this genus with Pereskia. • DESCRIPTION
A genus of shrubby to treelike plants, irregularly branched with branches more or less ascending, sometimes from the base, sometimes with a defined trunk and bark on adult plants. Stems cylindrical, not segmented, with leaves usually persistent, variable, elliptical, rounded, lanceolate, spatulate, fleshy, with a short petiole. Areoles rounded, woolly and hairy, with glochids. Spines mostly present, aciculate, sheath absent.
Flowers diurnal, also nocturnal, rotate, typical of Opuntiads, self-sterile (although empty fruits can form), appearing on the terminal segments of the year, yellow, also pink, orange or red; P. porteri blooms late in the afternoon and the yellow flowers, delicately fragrant, are closed next morning. It is an important element, because it defines the type of pollinator, probably a Sphingideae in that case. Fruits small, obovoid to pyriform (pear-shaped), juicy, orange red, with areoles provided with wool, glochids and leaves petiolate, fleshy, quickly falling. Seeds discoid, hairy, with a whitish aspect because of the sclerotic aril recovering them. • HABITAT
The genus Pereskiopsis grows in Guatemala and up to northern Mexico, in the Sonoran desert, in coastal areas, along arroyos, on dry plains or low hills among a vegetation of spiny bushes or in deciduous or semi deciduous forests, from 10m up to 2100 m in altitude. It is difficult to discover in habitat, because it merges into other bushes and shrubs. • DISTRIBUTION
Guatemala (El Progreso, Santa Rosa, Zacapa), Mexico (Baja California, Campeche, Chiapas, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Sinaloa, Sonora, Veracruz, Yucatan).
Currently 6 species:
– Pereskiopsis aquosa* (F.A.C. Weber) Britton & Rose 1907
– Pereskiopsis blakeana J.G. Ortega 1929
– Pereskiopsis diguettii* (F.A.C. Weber) Britton & Rose 1907
– Pereskiopsis kellermannii Rose 1907
– Pereskiopsis porteri* (T.Brandegee ex F.A.C. Weber) Britton & Rose 1907
– Pereskiopsis rotundifolia (D.C.) Britton & Rose 1907
