• ETYMOLOGY
“Tree-candle”, because the genus is typically treelike, arborescent, with the presence of a massive trunk. • DESCRIPTION
A genus of treelike plants, reaching more than 10 m high, with a thick cylindrical trunk (more than 1 m in diameter) and many branches. Branches erect or pendent, with 3 to 5 ribs, margins strongly crenate (undulate in D. undulosus). Spines rather small, aciculate, sometimes absent.
Flowers nocturnal, self-sterile, widely funnel-shaped, appearing near the apex, white to yellowish green more or less tinged with pink, nice-smelling (smells of birch), pollinated by bats (Monophyllus redmani and Phyllonycterispoeyi). Long cylindrical floral tube. Big fruits, globose to pear-shaped, one of the biggest among Cactaceae, up to 12 cm long, hard, with a very thick bark, green, smooth and naked, pulp strongly mucilaginous, indehiscent. Seeds rough,
irregularly reticulate, brown, covered with mucilage, possibly ornithophilous dispersion. The animal responsible for the dispersion, bird or mammal, has probably disappeared. • HABITAT
The genus Dendrocereus is insular and grows in the Caribbean islands in coastal undergrowths (maniguas) in dry tropical area, often near the sea. Dendrocereus nudiflorus is a truly endangered species, because we cannot find young specimens in the natural populations, as they do not reproduce any more. • DISTRIBUTION
Cuba (Granma, Guantanamo, Matanzas), Haiti (northwest), Dominican Republic (Altagracia, Pedernales).
Currently 2 recognised species:
– Dendrocereus nudiflorus* (Engelm. ex Sauvalle) Britton & Rose 1920
– Dendrocereus undulosus (DC.) Britton & Rose 1925
• ETYMOLOGY
“Cylindrical Opuntia”, referring to the cylindrical shape of the stems in this genus, in contrast to Platyopuntia, or Opuntia, whose stems, or articles, are flattened. • DESCRIPTION
A genus of much-branched, shrubby or treelike plants, of indeterminate growth. Stems and segments cylindrical or clavate, often and easily becoming loose, mostly tuberculate and of various length. Areoles with glochids. Spines of variable length, enclosed in a papery sheath soon falling.
Flowers diurnal, mostly self-sterile, well opened, of variable colours, yellow to greenish yellow, red, bronze or magenta, pollinated by bees (Apis, Bombus, Megachile, Xylocopa) and by hummingbirds (Archilochus alexandri, Calothorax lucifer, Calypte costae, Cynanthus latirostris), possibly by ants (Crematogaster opuntiae); the pollination by the wind (anemophily) is also a means of fertilization in some species (eg. C. echinocarpa). Fruits dry or fleshy, globose to
subglobose, sometimes davate, sometimes proliferating and forming a chain. Seeds rather large, flattened, suborbicular, straw-coloured, sometimes absent in fruits. • HABITAT
The genus Cylindropuntia is part of a plant community including several other cacti and succulents, and grows in a variety of habitats, sometimes forming densely populated colonies, among bushes and shrubs, on gravelly, sandy, sedimentary or volcanic soils, in mountainous or desert region, rocky escarpments, in valleys and arid outwash plains, on plateaus and hill slopes, in arroyos, drainage basins and depressions, on sandbars and gravel, from sea level up to 2100 min altitude, sometimes in regions covered with snow in winter (Colorado plateau), but also according to species, tropical dry scrub near the coast (Carribbean islands). Some species easily hybridize in nature. • DISTRIBUTION
The Antilles, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico (Aguascalientes, Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Mexico City DF, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Zacatecas…), Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, USA (Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah), Venezuela. Note that Cylindropuntia tunicata is naturalized in Argentina, in Bolivia, in Chile, in Ecuador and in Peru, as well as C. rosea, where we can find it in Peru up to 3300 m in altitude.
• ETYMOLOGY
“Pile or heap of Opuntias”, referring to the mound-shaped (or compact cushions) that the plants of this genus form in habitat. • DESCRIPTION
A genus of low-growing plants branching laterally or at the apex, with more or less compact, segmented stems, spherical, ellipsoid or egg-shaped segments, forming usually very spiny cushions. Tuberous or fibrous roots. Tiny leaves soon falling. Areoles with hairs and glochids. Spines often concentrated in the upper part of the stems.
Flowers diurnal, self-sterile, funnel-shaped to bell-shaped, yellow, orange or red, pollinated by hymenoptera (Caenohalictus pupurisus) or diptera (Habromyia lipoflava, Lyophlaeba consobrina), also by beetles (Buprestidae like Atacamita chilensis). Fruits vary in shape, globular to ovoid, spiny and covered with glochids, thick and fleshy although seeds remain dry inside. Seeds compressed, suborbicular, straw-coloured to brown. Their structure is similar to that of Austrocylindropuntia. Dispersion is made by excrements of animals which feed on fruits (endozoochory) like chinchillas (Chinchilla brevicaudata, C. chinchilla, the latter unfortunately extinct), Lagidium peruvianum) and guanacos (Llama guanicoe). • HABITAT
The genus Cumulopuntia grows in full sun in the Andean altiplano among rocks, in sandy areas, or among grasses, and is probably one of the only genera among cacti living from the sea level up to the highest areas of the Andes: up to 4700 m in altitude (C. boliviana subsp. echinacea in Tacna, Peru). • DISTRIBUTION
Argentina (Catamarca, Jujuy, Rioja, Salta, San Juan), Bolivia (Chuquisaca, La Paz, Oruro, Potosi), Chile (Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo, Tarapaca), Peru (Arequipa, Ayacucho, Ica, Lima, Moquegua, Puno, Tacna).
• ETYMOLOGY
A genus of which the smell of flowers and fruits are reminiscent of fragrant bedstraw (Galium odoratum) or tonka bean (Coumarouna or Dipteryx odorata), or cassia cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia), which contains coumarin (hence the name of Cumarinia), a substance used industrially to flavour among others, Amsterdamer cheese. • DESCRIPTION
A genus of rather small plants, clustering from the base, bearing long soft cylindrical tubercles each with a groove, with long, fine and hooked spines each like a fishhook.
Flowers diurnal, small, self-fertile, appearing at the base of the groove on tubercles, yellow pinkish. Fruits cylindrical, at first carmine red, quickly becoming dark, fragile, fragrant. Tiny brownish seeds, egg-shaped, smooth and shiny. • HABITAT
The monotypic genus Cumarinia grows up to 1600 m in altitude, on limestone soils, in crevices, in the shade under vegetation, among organic debris, in pockets of often relatively humid humus. • DISTRIBUTION
Mexico (San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas).
Currently 1 only recognised species:
– Cumarinia odorata* (Boed.) Buxb. 1951
• ETYMOLOGY
“Hidden candle”, because the genus was supposedly a long time unnoticed in a region nevertheless explored many times, the Chiapas, in Mexico. • DESCRIPTION
A genus of epiphytic, climbing to pendulous plants, forming clumps of flattened stems, deeply lobed, in zigzag fashion, with a blunt apex. Tiny areoles, as well as spines, the latter mostly in sets of 3.
Flowers nocturnal, self-sterile, inner tepals white, outer tepals purplish, fragrant, pollinated by sphingideae and bats. Fruits egg-shaped, densely spiny, green. Seeds black. • HABITAT
The monotypic genus Cryptocereus grows in a limited area of southern Mexico, as epiphytic in tropical rainforests between 180 m and 800 m in altitude. • DISTRIBUTION
Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Veracruz).
Currently 1 only recognised species:
– Cryptocereus anthonyanus* Alexander 1950
