• ETYMOLOGY
“Salmon Opuntia?”, probably because of the characteristic colour the stems of this genus can take during drought or stress, but really, no explanation was given. Originally, described as Salmiopuntia (nom. invai.), which designated a genus honouring the prince Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck. • DESCRIPTION
Monospecific genus of shrubby plants, branching especially from the base, with slender stems, segments cylindrical, not tuberculate, easily detached, often tinged with pink to purple or purplish. Areoles tiny, woolly, white, with yellow glochids. Spines variable in number, sometimes absent. Flowers diurnal, self-sterile (forming fruits even without pollination) rotate, pale yellow or whitish, with floral buds pinkish to scarlet, pollinated by insects, including specialized flies. Fruits elongated to claviform, reddish to purplish or violet, almost unarmed but more or less covered with glochids, proliferous. Seeds undescribed, plants supposed sterile, but fruits containing 2-3 seeds are sometimes found in habitat. • HABITAT
The monotypic genus Salmonopuntia grows from 80 m up to 2330 m in altitude, in forests, foothills, in often loamy soil, among mosses and ferns, but also between rocks, usually granitic, among grasses, on sandy or gravelly soils. • DISTRIBUTION
Argentina (Catamarca, Cordoba, Entre Rios, Jujuy, Rioja, Salta, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, San Luis), Bolivia (Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Tarija), Brazil? Paraguay (Boqueron, Alto Paraguay).
Currently one recognised species:
– Salmonopuntia salmiana* (J. Parmentier ex Pfeiffer) P.V. Heath 1999
• ETYMOLOGY
≪Crevice cactus≫, referring to the characteristic habitat of the genus, growing in crevices and cracks of rocks. • DESCRIPTION
Monospecific genus of tiny plants, globose flattened not exceeding 0.5-1 cm in diameter in habitat (much more in cultivation, caespitose when grafted), with a napiform root. Areoles having long white trichomes (almost completely occulting the epidermis) and some straight spines. It is said that tiny leaves appear in newly germinating plants (but are they not actually the first tubercles?).
Flowers diurnal but remaining open at night, larger than the plant, funnel-shaped, numerous, appearing in the area of the apex, sulphur yellow, with outer tepals tinged brown, floral remains persistent, probably pollinated by small hymenoptera. The flowers last for a very long time (up to 11 days, also open during the night, in Mottram 2001), as the plant grows in an extremely arid area and pollinators, and therefore the potential for fecundation, are probably rare. Fruits angled, hollow, elongated and dry when ripe, pinkish, remaining on the plant for a long time (in culture).
Seeds black, shiny, pear-shaped, granular, with a sunken hilum. Anemophilous dispersal could be possible, but above all, myrmecophilous. • HABITAT
The monotypic genus Rimacactus grows endemically in northern Chile, between 400 m and 1000 m in altitude, in an extremely hostile desert environment, on a very reduced area (approximately 10 km2) and fragmented, small cryptic populations are found, between rocks, in crevices, together with Copiapoa tocopillana, Neoporteria iquiquensis, Eulychnia iquiquensis. This region receives very little rain, but benefits from the frequent coastal fogs (camanchaca). • DISTRIBUTION
Chile (Antofagasta).
Currently only one recognised species:
– Rimacactus laui* (Luthy) Mottram 2001
• ETYMOLOGY
≪Belonging to wickerwork≫, the genus being reminiscent of woven basketry work because of the entangled flexible, reed-like stems of most species. • DESCRIPTION
A genus of usually epiphytic, sometimes epilithic plants, with pendulous stems, sometimes deciduous, segmented, acrotonic (definite growth) or mesotonic according to species, very variable, cylindrical, ribbed, angled, winged or flattened, with adventitious roots. Terminal areoles present or absent according to species. Spines present in some taxa at the juvenile stage (R. dissimilis), exceptional (R. pilocarpo subsp. horrida), otherwise absent.
Flowers diurnal, usually small, rotate, white to creamy-white (exceptionally intense red in R. hoelleri), pollinated by small insects, probably hymenoptera, but there do not seem to be specific observations on the subject, and lepidoptera as well as diptera could also be potential pollinators. Fruits usually naked, more or less spherical, berry-like. Seeds elongated, brown to black, more or less egg-shaped, shiny, retaining an envelope of mucilage. Dispersal of seeds ensured by birds and small primates. • HABITAT
The genus Rhipsalis has, through R. baccifera, the largest geographic distribution of all the family, located in the tropics not only in South America (except Chile), but also reaching Southeast Asia and Africa, and grows epiphytically, pendulous, in the hollows of trees, in ombrophilous forests, together with other epiphytic plants (orchids and bromeliads), on other cacti, (like the columnar Browningia microsperma), also on rocks, from sea level up to 2650 m in altitude. It is sometimes found in swampy areas, clinging on trunks of trees (Pachira aquatica) and mangroves (Rhizophora mangle), for example in southern Mexico in Yucatan. • DISTRIBUTION
Angola, Antilles, Argentina (Catamarca, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Jujuy, Misiones, Salta, Tucuman), Belize, Benin? Bolivia (Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Santa Cruz, Tarija), Brazil (Bahia, Espirito Santo, Goias, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Parana, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Sergipe), Burundi, Cameroon, Colombia (Quindio, Tolima), Comoros Islands, Costa Rica (Alajuela, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, San Jose), Cuba (Cienfuegos), Ecuador (Azuay, Chimborazo, El Oro, Guayas, Loja, Manabi), Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala (Alta Verapaz, Escuintla, Huehuetenango, Izabal, Peten, Quetzaltenango, Quiche, Retalhuleu, San Marcos, Santa Rosa, Suchitepequez), Guyana, French Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Mascarene Islands, Mauritius, Jamaica, Kenya, Reunion, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mexico (Chiapas, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Veracruz), Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay (Alto Paraguay, Alto Parana, Amambay, Caaguazu, Caazapa, Canindeyu, Central, Concepcion, Cordillera, Guaira, Itapua, Paraguari, Presidente Hayes, San Pedro), Peru (Amazonas, Cajamarca, Cuzco, Huanuco, Junin, La Libertad, Moquegua, Piura, San Martin), Puerto Rico, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Rwanda, Seychelles (Mahe), Sierra Leone, South Africa (Transvaal), Sri Lanka, Surinam, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Uruguay (Artigas, Rio Negro, Rivera, Tacuarembo), USA (Florida), Venezuela (Aragua, Carabobo, DF, Miranda, Sucre, Yaracuy), Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
• ETYMOLOGY
“Similar to Rhipsalis”, referring to the superficial resemblance of this genus with Rhipsalis. • DESCRIPTION
A genus of small epiphytic plants, usually multi branched and hanging (or semi erect and little branched in R. rosea), with usually flattened segments, but sometimes with 3 to 6 angles, truncate, often tinged with red, notched at the areoles; areoles marginal and apical, bearing tiny bristles. Spines absent. Flowers diurnal, self-sterile, appearing at the end of stems, funnel-shaped to bell-shaped, actinomorphic, pink or scarlet to intense red, pollinated by hummingbirds. Fruits globose or elongated, red. Seeds egg-shaped, shiny, smooth, brown. • HABITAT
The genus Rhipsalidopsis grows endemically, in the humid and mountainous forests of southern Brazil, epiphytically in trees, from 100 m up to approximately 2000 m in altitude. It is often found together with Schlumbergera. It is usually in cultivation under the name of “Easter cactus”, while Schlumbergera is named “Christmas Cactus”, because they commonly flower during these periods. • DISTRIBUTION
Brazil (Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo).
Currently 2 recognised species:
– Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri* (Regel) Moran 1953
– Rhipsalidopsis rosea* (Lagerheim) Britton & Rose 1923
• ETYMOLOGY
Genus honouring Karl Friedrich (Carlos) Reiche (1860-1929), German botanist specializing in the Chilean. • DESCRIPTION
A genus of small low growing, solitary plants, or sometimes branched usually when the apex has been damaged, with cylindrical stems, depressed at the apex, strongly constricted at the level of the tuberous root (R. bonnieae), which is a true geophytic. Indeed, the stem may disappear during the dry season, as in Pterocactus. Ribs low, numerous (24 – 40), but poorly defined. Areoles elongated, situated on tiny tubercles, with very short hairs and bearing tiny soft, pectinate spines.
Flowers diurnal, self-sterile, appearing laterally, shortly tubular to bell-shaped, floral tube covered with woolly hairs, pale silvery yellow to yellow-orange, with brownish tepals, pollinated by insects. Fruits egg-shaped and elongated, covered with hairy scales, purplish, with longitudinal dehiscence, floral remains persistent. Seeds black, subglobose to elongated, warty, numerous (up to 400 per fruit), retaining the remnants of mucilage. • HABITAT
The genus Reicheocactus grows endemically in northwestern Argentina, from 1200 m up to 3050 m in altitude, usually among rocks, in full sun. One of the two species which compose the genus, R. bonniae, is a true geophytic plant. • DISTRIBUTION
Argentina (Catamarca, San Juan).
