Epithelantha
Epithelantha is a genus of flowering plants of the cactus family ( Cactaceae ). The botanical name of the genus is derived from the ancient Greek words for ὲπί epi "on ," θηλή thele for " nipple " transferred " teat ", " wart " and ἄνθσς anthos for " flower " or " flower " and means flower on the wart.
Description
The species of the genus Epithelantha grow individually to vieltriebig and are highly variable in terms of their size, spines, habit and color. The shoots reach pressed spherical diameter of 1 to 6 centimeters. They are warty and covered by thorns. Are located on the top of 1 to 3 millimeters long warts small areoles from which 19 to 38 white to light yellow spines arise that can not be distinguished in central and radial spines.
The bell-shaped flowers appear from the young areoles at the shoot tip. They are white to pink and achieve diameter of 3 to 12 mm. Your flower cups is bald.
The red, bald, not aufreißenden fruits are club-shaped, between 3 and 18 and contain few, oval, shiny black seeds from 1 to 1.5 millimeters in length.
Systematics and distribution
The species of the genus Epithelantha are common in the U.S. states of eastern Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas and the Mexican states of Coahuila, San Luis Potosí and Nuevo León.
The first plants were discovered by William H. Emory and 1856 described by George Engelmann as Mammillaria micromeris. It is the type species of the genus. Frédéric Albert Constantin Weber 1898 Epithelantha listed as a synonym of Mammillaria micromeris, the genus but not described. The valid first description of the genus in 1922 by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose.
The genus includes two species:
- Epithelantha bokei
- Epithelantha micromeris Epithelantha micromeris subsp. micromeris
- Epithelantha micromeris subsp. greggii
- Epithelantha micromeris subsp. pachyrhiza
- Epithelantha micromeris subsp. polycephala
- Epithelantha micromeris subsp. unguispina
A synonym of the genus is Cephalomamillaria Fric.