| | The genera of Cactaceae |
Including Acanthocephala Backeb., Brasilicactus Backeb., Brasiliparodia F. Ritter, Brasilocactus Fric (nom. inval.), Chrysocactus Y. Itô (nom. inval.), Dactylanthocactus Y. Itô, Eriocactus Backeb., Eriocephala Backeb., Friesia Fric (nom. inval.), Hickenia Britton & Rose, Malacocarpus Salm-Dyck, Microspermia Fric, Neohickenia Fric, Notocactus (K.Schum.) Fric, Sericocactus Y. Itô, Wigginsia D.M.Porter
The plants cerioid, or condensed-cactoid (mostly); low and very compacted in their entirety, or not ‘low and very compacted’ (e.g., P. leninghausii). The plants’ appearance dominated neither by crowded areolar structures nor by tubercles covering the areoles. The stems spiny; globose (or globose-depressed), or shortly cylindric; apically depressed, or not apically depressed; cephaliate, or neither cephaliate nor pseudocephaliate. The plants unbranched, or offsetting; erect; solitary (usually), or clustering; to 0.03–0.3(–0.8) m high. The stems not segmented; ribbed and grooved, or not ribbed and grooved (the tubercles sometimes completely replacing the ribs). The ribs 6–35; when present, borne spirally (occasionally), or longitudinal. The grooves when detectable, deep and narrow. The plants more or less conspicuously tuberculate to not conspicuously tuberculate. The tubercles represented by slight humps on the ribs, or replacing them. The tubercles connected by the ribs to not connected by ribs; spirally disposed, or borne in longitudinal series. The areoles associated with tubercles; closely approximating, or distant. The components of adjacent areoles so extensively covering the mature plant body as to obscure any ribs or furrows (rarely), or not obscuring details of the plant body. The areoles spirally disposed, or borne in longitudinal series; simple; usually woolly (usually densely so when young); without glochids; with spines (variable). The spines clustered; (3–)12–65 (usually numerous but rarely as few as 3); 0.3–7 cm long; with radials and centrals differentiated (nearly always), or showing little or no difference between radials and centrals. Central spines 0–12 (often no more than 4); conspicuously forming a cross, or not forming a cross. Radial spines (2–)6–40(–70). The spines usually including some hooked members (often), or never hooked; straight to curved, or hooked (the most central often hooked). The mature stems leafless.
Flowering during the day (often lasting several days). The flowers solitary, or aggregated; terminal; one per areole; shortly funnelform to campanulate; sessile; medium-sized to large; 1–8 cm long; regular. The receptacle conspicuously produced beyond the ovary into a tubular hypanthium. The hypanthial tube short; not naked; with scales (these small). The axils of the scales of the hypanthial tube not naked (densely felted and often bristly). The hypanthial tube spineless. The perianth brightly coloured, yellow, or orange, or red, or purple. The perianth segments sub-rotate to spreading; elongate, relatively narrow, or relatively short, broad (mostly); blunt, or pointed (mostly). Stamens not exserted; not grouped.
The mature fruit 0.3–6.5 cm long; globose, or ovoid, or ellipsoidal, or clavate; not naked (woolly or bristly); with persistent floral remains; fleshy to non-fleshy when mature; indehiscent (thin walled and disintegrating basally, or thick walled and dehiscing laterally), or dehiscent; dehiscing vertically by one slit, or dehiscing vertically by more than one slit, or dehiscing via basal pores, or irregularly dehiscent (?). The seeds reddish brown to black; very variable in shape; not encased in bony arils; with hilum and micropyle conjunct. The testa sometimes with caruncles, or with spiny or hairlike projections. Cotyledons reduced or vestigial.
Natural Distribution. Eastern South America, mostly east of the Andes in Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uraguay and Argentina. South America.
Classification. About 65 species. Subfamily Cactoideae. Tribe Notocacteae.
Cf. Hunt (1967).
Images. • Parodia dextrohamata: © Zoya Akulova (2007). • Parodia schumanniana: © Zoya Akulova (2018). • Parodia mammulosa subsp. submammulosa: © Zoya Akulova (2007). • Parodia sellowii (as Malacocarpus tephracanthus), with Astrophytum capricorne: Britton & Rose (1922). • Parodia ottonis (Lehm.) N.P. Taylor (as Malacocarpus), Bot. Reg. xxiv, 42 (1838). • Parodia scopa (Spreng.) N.P. Taylor (as Malacocarpus): Bot. Reg. 1839, 24. • Parodia mammulosa (as Malacocarpus), with Astrophytum myriostigma, Mila caespitosa and Eriosyce islayensis (as Malacocarpus): Britton & Rose (1922). • Parodia microsperma (as Hickenia) and P. ottonis (as Malacocarpus), with Stenocactus crispatus (as Echinofossulocactus violaceus) and S. polyancistrus: Britton & Rose (1922).
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’.
