Pseudorhipsalis
Pseudorhipsalis alata
Pseudorhipsalis is a genus of flowering plants of the cactus family ( Cactaceae ). The botanical name of the genus derives from the Greek verb " ψεύδω " ( pseudo) for deceiving and means Deceptive rhipsalis. The type species of the genus is Pseudorhipsalis alata.
Description
The species of the genus Pseudorhipsalis are shrubby with arching stems and grow epiphytic or occasionally lithophytic. The shoots are initially rotating round, flattened and leaf-like about it. The edges are notched and without thorns.
The short funnel-shaped or wheel-shaped flowers are white to yellowish white, and 7 to 35 millimeters long. They open on the day. The flower tube is long or short, but clearly visible. On the Perikarpell and the corolla tube are a few scales. The berry-like, oval to spherical fruits are tinged with whitish and often purple. They are up to 10 millimeters long and more or less bare. The egg-shaped, smooth seeds are dark brown.
Distribution and systematics
The genus Pseudorhipsalis is common in Central America and the Caribbean. One type ( Pseudorhipsalis ramulosa ) is also widespread in South America. The first description was in 1923 by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose.
Belong to the genus of the following types:
- Pseudorhipsalis acuminata
- Pseudorhipsalis alata
- Pseudorhipsalis amazonica Pseudorhipsalis amazonica subsp. amazonica
- Pseudorhipsalis amazonica subsp. chocoensis
- Pseudorhipsalis amazonica subsp. panamensis
Karl Moritz Schumann described in 1903 a new genus Wittia but which has been published invalid under Article 53.1 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Another synonym is the genus Wittiocactus that Stephan Rauschert (1931-1986) aufstellte 1982.
Myron William Kimnach (* 1922) classified the species of the genus Pseudorhipsalis in the genus Disocactus. However, the International cactus systematics group of the International Organization for Sukkulentenforschung followed the approach of Wilhelm Barthlott, the Pseudorhipsalis regards as its own.