Melocactus lanssensianus

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Cactaceae

Fleshy perennials , shrubs , trees or vines , terrestrial or epiphytic. Stems jointed , terete , globose , flattened, or fluted , mostly leafless and variously spiny . Leaves alternate, flat or subulate to terete, vestigial, or entirely absent; spines, glochids (easily detached, small, bristlelike spines), and flowers always arising from cushionlike, axillary areoles (modified short shoots ) . Flowers solitary, sessile, rarely clustered and stalked (in Pereskia), bisexual , rarely unisexual , actinomorphic or occasionally zygomorphic. Receptacle tube (hypanthium or perianth tube) absent or short to elongate , naked or invested with leaflike bracts, scales , areoles, and hairs , bristles , or spines; perianth segments usually numerous , in a sepaloid to petaloid series. Stamens numerous, variously inserted in throat and tube; anthers 2-loculed, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary (pericarpel) inferior, rarely superior, 1-loculed, with 3 to many parietal (rarely basal) placentas; ovules usually numerous; style 1; stigmas 2 to numerous, papillate , rarely 2-fid. Fruit juicy or dry, naked, scaly , hairy , bristly , or spiny, indehiscent or dehiscent , when juicy then pulp derived from often deliquescent funicles (except in Pereskia) . Seeds usually numerous, often arillate or strophiolate ; embryo curved or rarely straight; endosperm present or absent; cotyledons reduced or vestigial, rarely leaflike.

About 110 genera and more than 1000 species: temperate and tropical America; Rhipsalis baccifera (J. S. Mueller) Stearn native in tropical Africa, Madagascar, Comoros, Mascarenes, and Sri Lanka; some species of other genera now extensively naturalized in the Old World through human agency; more than 60 genera and 600 species cultivated as ornamentals or hedges in China, of which four genera and seven species more or less naturalized.[1]

Physical Description

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [2].

Ecology: Eastern caatinga element: on exposed granitic outcrops of serras in caatinga, c. 900 m [2].

List of Habitats :

•     6     Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs , mountain peaks)   
  
•     8     Desert   
  
•     8.1     Desert - Hot   
[more info]

Biology

Growth

Culture: Space 6-9" apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 11. (map)

Taxonomy

Similar Species

Members of the genus Melocactus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 50 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

M. albicephalus (Melocactus) · M. andinus (Melocactus) · M. andinus soatensis (Melocactus) · M. azureus (Turks Cap Cactus) · M. azureus ferreophilus (Melocactus) · M. azureus var. krainzianus (Melocactus) · M. bahiensis (Cabeca De Frade) · M. bellavistensis (Melocactus) · M. broadwayi (Melocactus) · M. caroli-linnaei (Melocactus) · M. concinnus (Melocactus) · M. conoideus (Cone-Like Turk's Head Cactus) · M. curvispinus (Viznaga De Dulce) · M. curvispinus loboguerreroi (Melocactus) · M. curvispinus 'Oaxacensis' (Melocactus) · M. deinacanthus (Wonderfully Bristled Turks-Cap Cactus) · M. estevesii (Melocactus) · M. glaucescens (Woolly Waxy-Stemmed Turks-Cap Cactus) · M. grueberi (Melocactus) · M. harlowii (Melocactus) · M. horridus (Melocactus) · M. intortus (Melocactus) · M. intortus domingensis (Melocactus) · M. intortus var. antonii (Melocactus) · M. lanssensianus (Melocactus) · M. lemairei (Melocactus) · M. levitestatus (Melocactus) · M. macracanthus (Melocactus) · M. matanzanus (Dwarf Turks Cap Cactus) · M. mazelianus (Melocactus) · M. neryi (Melocactus) · M. oreas (Melon Cactus) · M. oreas cremnophilus (Melocactus) · M. oreas f. multiceps (Melocactus) · M. oreas var. flavidispinus (Melocactus) · M. pachyacanthus (Melocactus) · M. pachyacanthus viridis (Melocactus) · M. paucispinus (Few-Spined Turks-Cap Cactus) · M. perezassoi (Melocactus) · M. peruvianus var. amstutziae (Melocactus) · M. praerupticola (Melocactus) · M. salvadorensis (Melocactus) · M. schatzlii (Melocactus) · M. schatzlii chicamochae (Melocactus) · M. smithii (Melocactus) · M. trujilloensis (Melocactus) · M. violaceus (Melocactus) · M. violaceus margaritaceus (Melocactus) · M. violaceus ritteri (Melocactus) · M. zehntneri (Melocactus)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• IUCN. 2002. 2002 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 8 October 2002.
• Taylor, N.P. 1991. The genus Melocactus in Central and South America. Bradleya 9: 1–80.
• Taylor, N.P. and Zappi, D.C. 2004. Cacti of Eastern Brazil. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
• .Li Zhenyu. 1999. Cactaceae. In: Ku Tsuechih, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 52(1): 272-285.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• Taylor, N.P. 2002. Melocactus lanssensianus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 02February2012.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 5786226
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:929386-1
• IUCN ID: 222650
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1013645

Footnotes

1. Zhen-yu Li & Nigel P. Taylor "Cactaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 209. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Taylor, N.P. 2002. Melocactus lanssensianus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 02 February 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.