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| The genera of Cactaceae |
~ Rhipsalis, cf. Hunt (1967)
Including Acanthorhipsalis (K.Schum.) Britton & Rose, Acanthorhipsalis K. Schum., Pfeiffera Salm-Dyck
The plants cerioid; not ‘low and very compacted’. The stems spiny, or not spiny. The plants terrestrial and self supporting, or epiphytic, or scrambling, or lithophytic (often); producing aerial roots; much branched (mesotonically); with cladodes, or without cladodes. The cladodes when present, usually with midribs. The plants prostrate, or erect, or pendent; shrubby; solitary; to 1–2 m high (when terrestrial and erect). The branches flattened (leaflike), or cylindrical, or angled (then 3 or 4 winged). The stems segmented (usually), or not segmented; often annually articulating (?); not ribbed and grooved. The plants not conspicuously tuberculate (bearing areoles on segment or wing margins, or in the crenations thereon). The areoles not tubercle-associated; distant; borne in longitudinal series; simple. The flowering areoles resembling the non-flowering ones. The areoles hairy (with hair tufts); woolly, or not woolly; with bristles, or without bristles; without glochids; with spines, or without spines (sometimes with bristles only). The spines solitary, or clustered; when present, 1–10; 0.1–0.7 cm long; when present, showing little or no difference between radials and centrals; variable in form. The mature stems leafless.
Flowering during the day. Pollination sometimes ornithophilous (by hummingbirds). The flowers lateral; one per areole, or one per areole and more than one per areole (sometimes with small clusters at each areole); somewhat tubular, or campanulate, or rotate; sessile; small; 0.4–2.2 cm long; regular. The receptacle and the ovary and the areoles embedded in the branchlet to free. The receptacle conspicuously produced beyond the ovary into a tubular hypanthium to scarcely produced beyond the ovary (Acanthorhipsalis), or not produced beyond the ovary; not naked; with spines, or spineless. The pericarpel often tuberculate and angled, spiny or not. The perianth white, or yellow, or orange, or red, or pink, or purple. The perianth segments relatively short, broad; blunt to pointed.
The mature fruit 0.5–1 cm long (where recorded ...); brightly coloured or translucent, veined; naked, or not naked; spiny, or without spines; fleshy; berry-like indehiscent. The seeds to 1 mm long; brown, or black; "oblong or ovate"; not encased in bony arils; with hilum and micropyle fused; with a mucilage sheath. Cotyledons reduced or vestigial.
General anatomy. Cortical bundles present (in the angles, in L. cruciforme and Pfeiffera sp.), or absent (?).
Natural Distribution. Eastern Bolivia to Argentina and Brazil.
Classification. 15 species. Subfamily Cactoideae. Tribe Rhipsalideae.
Images. • Lepismium ianthothele (as Pfeiffera) and L. cruciforme, with Pseudorhipsalis alata, P. himantoclada and P. ramulosa (as jamaicensis): Britton & Rose (1923). • Lepismium aculeata and L. lumbricoides (as Rhipsalis leucorhaphis), with Rhipsalis baccifera subsp. shaferi, R. mesembryanthemoides and M. neves-armondii (including megalantha): Britton & Rose (1923). • Lepismium houlletianum (as Rhipsalis): Britton & Rose (1923). • Lepismium houlletianum and L. warmingianum (as Rhipsalis spp.): Britton & Rose (1923).
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2018 onwards. The genera of Cactaceae: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 14th November 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
