Coryphantha

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Coryphantha
Coryphantha ramillosa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Subfamily: Cactoideae
Tribe: Cacteae
Genus: Coryphantha
(
Lem.
Species

See text

Coryphantha (from

native to arid parts of Central America, Mexico, through Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas and north into southwestern, central, and southeastern Montana. With its two subgenera, 57 species and 20 subspecies, it is one of the largest genera of cactus.[1]

Description

There are four characteristics that distinguish Coryphantha from other cacti.

  1. Their bodies do not have ribs, just tubercles.[2]
  2. The flowers form at the top of the plant (the apex or growing end of the stem).[1]
  3. The tip (
    axil. Without the groove it is not a Coryphantha.[1]
  4. The seed coat (or
    testa) has a net-like pattern (reticulate).[3]

More than many other cacti, the Coryphantha change in their appearance over their lifespan.[4] The presence or absence of a central spine is not indicative of the genus, even in fully adult plants.[4]

Name

The name Coryphantha was first applied by George Engelmann in 1856 as a subgenus,[5] the earlier name Aulacothele of Lemaire having been abandoned.[6] In 1868 Lemaire promoted the group to genus level.[5][6] Before this all Coryphantha had been classified as Mammillaria.

Species

Image Scientific name Subspecies Distribution
Coryphantha clavata (Scheidw.) Backeb.
  • Coryphantha clavata subsp. clavata
  • Coryphantha clavata subsp. stipitata (Scheidw.) Dicht & A.Lüthy
Mexico
Coryphantha compacta (Engelm.) Orcutt Mexico (to Sonora)
Coryphantha cornifera (DC.) Lem. Mexico
Coryphantha delaetiana (Quehl) A.Berger Mexico.
Coryphantha delicata L.Bremer Mexico.
Coryphantha difficilis (Quehl) Orcutt Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí)
Coryphantha durangensis (Runge ex K.Schum.) Britton & Rose
  • Coryphantha durangensis subsp. cuencamensis (L.Bremer) Dicht & A.Lüthy
  • Coryphantha durangensis subsp. durangensis
Mexico (Durango, Coahuila).
Coryphantha echinoidea (Quehl) Britton & Rose Mexico
Coryphantha echinus (Engelm.) Britton & Rose Central Texas to NE. Mexico
Coryphantha elephantidens (Lem.) Lem.
  • Coryphantha elephantidens subsp. bumamma (Ehrenb.) Dicht & A.Lüthy
  • Coryphantha elephantidens subsp. elephantidens
  • Coryphantha elephantidens subsp. greenwoodii (Bravo) Dicht & A.Lüthy
Mexico.
Coryphantha erecta (Lem. ex Pfeiff.) Lem. Mexico (to Veracruz)
Coryphantha georgii Boed. Mexico.
Coryphantha glanduligera (Otto & A.Dietr.) Lem. Mexico (to Jalisco).
Coryphantha glassii Dicht & A.Lüthy Mexico (Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí).
Coryphantha gracilis Bremer & A.B.Lau Mexico (Chihuahua).
Coryphantha hintoniorum Dicht & A.Lüthy
  • Coryphantha hintoniorum subsp. geoffreyi Dicht & A.Lüthy
  • Coryphantha hintoniorum subsp. hintoniorum
Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí)
Coryphantha jalpanensis Buchenau Mexico (Querétaro to Hidalgo)
Coryphantha kracikii Halda, Chalupa & Kupčák Mexico (Durango)
Coryphantha longicornis Boed. Mexico (Coahuila, Chihuahua, Durango)
Coryphantha maiz-tablasensis Fritz Schwarz ex Backeb. Mexico (to Jalisco)
Coryphantha neglecta L.Bremer Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León).
Coryphantha nickelsiae (K.Brandegee) Britton & Rose Texas to Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León)
Coryphantha octacantha (DC.) Britton & Rose Mexico (to Jalisco).
Coryphantha ottonis (Pfeiff.) Lem. Mexico.
Coryphantha pallida Britton & Rose Mexico (Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca)
Coryphantha poselgeriana (A.Dietr.) Britton & Rose Mexico.
Coryphantha potosiana (Jacobi) Glass & R.A.Foster Mexico (Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas)
Coryphantha pseudoechinus Boed.
  • Coryphantha pseudoechinus subsp. laui (L.Bremer) Dicht & A.Lüthy
  • Coryphantha pseudoechinus subsp. pseudoechinus
Mexico.
Coryphantha pseudonickelsiae Backeb. Mexico (Durango, Chihuahua, Coahuila)
Coryphantha pulleineana (Backeb.) Glass Mexico (Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí)
Coryphantha pycnacantha (Mart.) Lem. Mexico.
Coryphantha ramillosa Cutak
  • Coryphantha ramillosa subsp. ramillosa
  • Coryphantha ramillosa subsp. santarosa Dicht & A.Lüthy
SW. Texas to NE. Mexico
Coryphantha recurvata (Engelm.) Britton & Rose
  • Coryphantha recurvata subsp. canatlanensis Dicht & A.Lüthy
  • Coryphantha recurvata subsp. recurvata
Arizona to Mexico (Sonora)
Coryphantha retusa (Pfeiff.) Britton & Rose Mexico (Puebla, Oaxaca)
Coryphantha robustispina (Schott ex Engelm.) Britton & Rose
  • Coryphantha robustispina subsp. robustispina
  • Coryphantha robustispina subsp. scheeri (Lem.) N.P.Taylor
Arizona to SW. New Mexico and Mexico (Sonora)
Coryphantha salinensis (Poselg.) Dicht & A.Lüthy . Mexico
Coryphantha sulcata (Engelm.) Britton & Rose Texas to Mexico (Coahuila, Tamualipas, Nuevo León)
Coryphantha tripugionacantha A.B.Lau Mexico (Zacatecas, Jalisco)
Coryphantha vaupeliana Boed. Mexico (Tamaulipas, Durango, Zacatecas)
Coryphantha vogtherriana Werderm. & Boed. Mexico (Jalisco to San Luis Potosí)
Coryphantha werdermannii Boed. Mexico (Coahuila, Chihuahua, Durango)
Coryphantha wohlschlageri Holzeis Mexico (Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí)

Synonymy

The genus has two valid synonyms:

and three invalid ones:

Related genera

A number of Coryphantha have previously been classified in other genera, indeed the type species C. sulcata was originally named Mammillaria sulcata[7] Other examples include Echinocactus salinensis Poselger 1853 now Coryphantha salinensis (Poselger) Dicht and A.Lüthy 1998[8] and Neolloydia pulleineana Blackberg 1948 now Coryphantha pulleineana (Blackberg) Glass 1968.[9]

Similarly, a number of other species have been previously classified as Coryphantha. For example, Escobaria vivipara was called Coryphantha vivipara.[10]

Gallery

References

  1. ^
  2. ^
  3. ^
  4. ^
  5. ^ Dicht, Reto F. and Lüthy, Adrian D. (1998) "Im Feld wiederaufgefunden: Coryphantha salinensis (Poselger) Kakteen und andere Sukkulenten 49(11): pp. 256ff., in German
  6. ^ Glass, Charles (1968) "Cactaceas Mexicanas Poco conocidas" Cactaceas y Suculentas Mexicanas 2: pp. 34ff., in Spanish
  7. ^ Hunt, David R. and Benson, Lyman (1976) "The lectotype of Coryphantha". Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 48: pp. 72ff.

External links