cactusclassification – Page 20 – THE LAST CACTUS CLASSIFICATION

May 3, 2016May 3, 2016

LEUCHTENBERGIA

Autor: Hooker

• ETYMOLOGY
Genus honouring Prince Maximilien Joseph Eugene Auguste Napoleon de Beauharnais, duke of Leuchtenberg (1817- 1852) and not as commonly seen by mistake in the cactophilous literature (except the Russian journal, in Gapon 2001), Prince Eugene de Beauharnais, Duke de Leuchtenberg (1781-1824), who was his father. Maximilien of Leuchtenberg is considered as having been a person passionate in arts and letters, and a talented botanist. For that reason, William Jackson Hooker honoured him in 1848 by creating the only species at present known for the genus, Leuchtenbergia principis (see portrait above, public domain).
• DESCRIPTION
Monospecific genus of usually solitary, sometimes caespitose plants, globose to shortly cylindrical, with big fleshy roots. Stems without ribs but with long triangular tubercles, each having a terminal areole. Spines elongated, papery, often twisted, flexible and not aggressive, yellowish.
Flowers diurnal, self-sterile funnel-shaped, pollinated by insects (mainly hymenoptera), perfumed, silky yellow, appearing at the base of areoles. Fruits elongated, dry, variable in colour when ripe, basally dehiscent, floral remains persistent. Seeds large, matt, papillose, blackish.
• HABITAT
The monotypic genus Leuchtenbergia grows in the Chihuahuan desert, and has a very wide geographic distribution but in very scattered and never abundant colonies, on mineral soils, limestone outcrops, in crevices, among bushes and shrubs, very mimetic, almost invisible (except when flowering), easily confused with the dry grasses with its long papery spines, from 1400 m up to 1800 m in altitude, together with other cacti (Ariocarpus, Lophophora…).
• DISTRIBUTION
Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas).

Currently only one recognised species:
– Leuchtenbergia principis* WJ.Hooker 1848

References: "TAXONOMY of the CACTACEAE" -  ISBN 978-84-617-3723-9 (Vol. 1)

May 3, 2016May 3, 2016

LEPTOCEREUS

http://www.seaturtle.org/imagelib/data/2067L.quadricostatus-med.JPG

Autor: (Berger) Britton & Rose

• ETYMOLOGY
“thin cereus”, referring to the thin ribs of some species in this genus.
• DESCRIPTION
A genus of shrubby or treelike plants with, if the latter, a woody trunk densely branched; branches erect, pendulous or prostrate, usually segmented and with well defined, thin ribs, with notched margins. Spines long and aciculate.
Flowers diurnal or nocturnal, remaining open in the morning, apical, subapical, tubular and bell-shaped or cupulate, solitary or in groups, whitish, pale green, yellow or pink, pollinated by bats (Monophyllus redmani and Phyllonycteris poeyi) or hymenoptera. Floral tube rather short, usually spiny and sometimes scaly. Fruits globose to elongated, fleshy, usually spiny, with deciduous spines when ripe. Seeds more or less ovate, with a rough to irregular texture, warty, black.
• HABITAT
The genus Leptocereus grows on coastal plains, also in limestone mountains, in semi-deserts and savannas, in dry subtropical forests or tropical rainforests among bushes, on friable cliffs near the ocean (L grantianus), or on karst ≪dog’s teeth≫ formations (L wrightii), at the edge of steep cliffs, from sea level up to approximately 100 m or more (data missing). Some species of the genus are threatened by the destruction of their habitat (eg. L. quadricostatus, L. scopulophilus, L. wrightii).
• DISTRIBUTION
Cuba (Camaguey, Cienfuegos, Granma, Habana, Pinar del Rio, Santiago of Cuba), Haiti, Cayman Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico (Culebra Island), Dominican Republic (La Romana).

Currently 15 possible species:
– Leptocereus arboreus Britton & Rose 1912
– Leptocereus assurgens (C.Wrlght & Griseb.) Britton & Rose 1909
– Leptocereus carinatus Areces 1993
– Leptocereus ekmanii (Werderm.) F.M.Knuth 1935
– Leptocereus grantianus Britton 1933
– Leptocereus leonii* Britton & Rose 1912
– Leptocereus maxonii Britton & Rose 1920
– Leptocereus paniculatus (Lam.) D.R.Hunt 1991 (ex Neoabbottia)
– Leptocereus quadricostatus* (Bello) Britton & Rose 1913
– Leptocereus santamarinae Areces 1992
– Leptocereus scopulophilus Areces 1993
– Leptocereus sylvestris Britton & Rose 1920
– Leptocereus weingartianus (Hartmann ex Dams) Britton & Rose 1920
– Leptocereus wrightii Leon 1940

References: "TAXONOMY of the CACTACEAE" -  ISBN 978-84-617-3723-9 (Vol. 1)

May 3, 2016May 3, 2016

LEPISMIUM

Autor: Pfeiffer

• ETYMOLOGY
“Scales” in reference to the tiny scales the genus has at the level of areoles.
• DESCRIPTION
A genus of epiphytic or sometimes epilithic bushy plants, crawling or pendulous, with segments of indefinite size branching in the middle (mesotony) but also at the stem tips (acrotony), which are variable in shape: cylindrical, ribbed, angled, winged or flattened, not tuberculate, with marginal areoles having small scales. Spines small, although often present, little developed.
Flowers diurnal, more or less bell-shaped, appearing laterally, mostly white or creamy-white, also yellow, pink, red to magenta, some delicately perfumed, with a very short or simply absent floral tube, with a pericarpel usually angular, bearing at the base small scales and bristles, pollinated by small insects. Fruits globose to ovoid (a berry like a blackcurrant), naked, brightly coloured, red, purple, black or translucent, non-veined, floral remains persistent. Seeds brown to blackish-brown, ovoid-elongated, shiny, with a micropyle most often apparent. Dispersion of seeds ensured by birds and small primates.
• HABITAT
The genus Lepismium grows in low rainforest or subtropical forests, epiphytically on the bark of trees, or on the soil, in the moss, between 300 m and 2050 m in altitude.
• DISTRIBUTION
Argentina (Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, Misiones, Salta, Santiago del Estero, Tucuman), Bolivia (Beni, Cochabamba, La Paz, Santa Cruz), Brazil (Bahia, Espirito Santo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Parana, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo), Paraguay (Alto Paraguay, Alto Parana, Amambay, Caazapa, Canindeyu, Central, Guaira, Misiones, Paraguari, San Pedro), Uruguay (Artigas, Cerro Largo, Colonia, Durazno, Maldonado, Rivera, Salto, San Jose, Soriano, Tacuarembo, Treinta y Tres).

Currently 5 recognised species (according to the works of Korotkova, 2011):
– Lepismium cruciforme* (Veil.) Miq. 1838
– Lepismium houlletianum* (Lem.) Barthlott 1987
– Lepismium lorentzianum* (Griseb.) Barthlott 1987
– Lepismium lumbricoides* (Lem.) Barthlott 1987
– Lepismium warmingianum* (K.Schum.) Barthlott 1987

References: "TAXONOMY of the CACTACEAE" -  ISBN 978-84-617-3723-9 (Vol. 1)

May 3, 2016May 3, 2016

LEPIDOCORYPHANTHA

http://blog-imgs-38-origin.fc2.com/s/h/a/shabomaniac/02SW-mariscalmt006S.jpg

Autor: Backeberg

• ETYMOLOGY
“Scaly Coryphantha”, because the pericarpel of the genus has some scales, as opposed with Coryphantha, which is without scales.
• DESCRIPTION
Genus of globose to elongated plants forming large clumps, with fleshy roots. Stems rather soft, with significant conicocylindrical tubercles, having a longitudinal groove, nectariferous glands sometimes present. Spines curved and flexible.
Flowers diurnal, self-sterile, funnel-shaped, petals ciliate, intense pink to red magenta, with a darker midstripe, pollinated by hymenoptera and diptera. Fruits green with aqueous pulp, floral remains persistent. Seeds light brown to brownish, keeping the remnants of the mucilage.
• HABITAT
Although it is composed of one species and subspecies, the genus Lepidocoryphantha offers a wide geographic distribution, growing among grasses, in dry grasslands and arid mountains of the Chihuahuan desert, on clayey or gravelly soils, from 800 m up to 2230 m in altitude.
• DISTRIBUTION
Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas), USA (New Mexico, Texas).

Currently only one recognised species + one subspecies:
– Lepidocoryphantha macromeris* (Engelm.) Backeb. 1942
– Lepidocoryphantha macromeris subsp. runyonii (Britton & Rose) Doweld 1999

References: "TAXONOMY of the CACTACEAE" -  ISBN 978-84-617-3723-9 (Vol. 1)

May 3, 2016May 3, 2016

LEOCEREUS

Autor: Britton & Rose

• ETYMOLOGY
Genus honouring Antonio Pacheco Leao (1872-1931), director of the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (see portrait above with Albert Einstein, ccourtesy of Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
• DESCRIPTION
A genus of erect or spreading shrubby plants, rarely branched, with slender, woody cylindrical stems, without mucilage, with areoles very close-set. Ribs low and rounded; central and radial spines not differentiated, short, finely aciculate.
Flowers nocturnal, self-sterile, subapical, tubular, white, floral remains persistent, pollinated by bats. Fruits globose to egg-shaped, red, indehiscent, with deciduous spines. Seeds black, shiny, with intercellular dimples.
• HABITAT
The monotypic genus Leocereus grows in the Brazilian caatinga, especially in a type of arborescent savanna (campo cerrado), also in the campo rupestre (in Brazil, mountainous subtropical savanna), on sandstone cliffs, from sea level up to 1200 m in altitude, often in a dense spiny-shrub vegetation, together with other Cactaceae (Meiocactus, Pilosocereus).
• DISTRIBUTION
Brazil (Bahia, Minas Gerais, Piaui).

Currently 2 recognised species:
– Leocereus bahiensis* Britton & Rose 1920
– Leocereus estevesii P.J. Braun 1990

References: "TAXONOMY of the CACTACEAE" -  ISBN 978-84-617-3723-9 (Vol. 1)