Biology:Yungasocereus

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Short description: Genus of cacti

Yungasocereus
Yungasocereus inquisivensis SSZ.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Subfamily: Cactoideae
Tribe: Cereeae
Subtribe: Trichocereinae
Genus: Yungasocereus
F.Ritter[3]
Species:
Y. inquisivensis
Binomial name
Yungasocereus inquisivensis
(Cárdenas) F.Ritter[2]
Synonyms[2]
  • Samaipaticereus inquisivensis Cárdenas

Yungasocereus is a monotypic genus of cacti. Its sole species is Yungasocereus inquisivensis, native to Bolivia.[3]

Description

It is a columnar cactus, appearing either as a tree or shrub, ranging up to 4–5 meters in height. The 6–7 cm diameter stems are dark green, with 6-10 ribs. The 1.5–3 cm spines are in groups of 4-12, with no differentiation into central and radial types, and range from a brownish to grayish color. The flowers are white, appearing in groups of 5-8 near the stem tips. They open day and night and are 5 to 6 centimeters long.

The fruits have a length between 2 and 2.8 centimeters. They contain small, broadly oval, shiny black, slightly keeled seeds on the back, 0.9 millimeters long and 0.7 millimeters wide.[4]

Taxonomy

Martín Cárdenas described the species in 1957 from Inquisivi, placing it in Samaipaticereus.[5] Friedrich Ritter later found the same species in Yungas. In 1980, he gave the cactus its own genus, Yungasocereus.[6] After a period in Haageocereus, this was again separated into Yungasocereus.

Distribution

This cactus is known only from Yungas and Inquisivi provinces of La Paz Department, where it is found at elevations of around 1000 to 2300 meters.[citation needed]

References

  • Edward F. Anderson, The Cactus Family (Timber Press, 2001), p. 681

External links

Wikidata ☰ {{{from}}} entry