Biology:Melocactus caroli-linnaei

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Short description: Species of cactus

Melocactus caroli-linnaei
Melocactus caroli-linnaei.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Subfamily: Cactoideae
Genus: Melocactus
Species:
M. caroli-linnaei
Binomial name
Melocactus caroli-linnaei
N.P.Taylor

Melocactus caroli-linnaei is a cactus (a member of the family Cactaceae) found in Jamaica. When mature it is columnar, up to 1 m (3.3 ft) high. Like all species of Melocactus, it forms a "cephalium" when mature – a dense mass of areoles covered with wool and spines at the tip of the stem. Flowers are produced only from the cephalium.[2]

Description

Melocactus caroli-linnaei grows with cylindrical green stems and reaches a size of up to 1 meter in height. The stem has ten to fifteen ribs or folds with areoles of ten to twelve spines each (sometimes more). The strong 3-5 centimeter, ten to twelve long spines are brownish-yellow in color. The very dense, long and strong bristles of cephalus hide their wool. The flowers are narrow, red and up to 4 centimeters long. The red, club-shaped fruits reach a length of up to 5 centimeters.

Description

Melocactus caroli-linnaei is widespread in Jamaica.

Taxonomy

The species was originally named Cactus melocactus by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in Species Plantarum. The genus Cactus was later split and the pre-Linnaean name Melocactus was used for melocacti. The rules of botanical nomenclature forbid the repetition of a genus name and a specific epithet, so the name "Melocactus melocactus" is not allowed. In 1991, Nigel Taylor gave the species its current name, Melocactus caroli-linnaei.[2]

In 1922, Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose, in their work The Cactaceae, restricted the use of the name Cactus melocactus back to the Jamaican species only.


References

  1. Kew), Nigel Taylor (RBG (2011-07-26). "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. https://www.iucnredlist.org/en. Retrieved 2023-08-18. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Anderson, Edward F. (2001), The Cactus Family, Pentland, Oregon: Timber Press, ISBN 978-0-88192-498-5 , pages=456–459

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q1479825 entry