Lepismium
Lepismium is a genus of flowering plants of the cactus family ( Cactaceae ). The botanical name of the genus derives from the Greek noun " λεπίς " ( lepis ) for shell, scale and refers to the way in which in some species the flowers break through the epidermis.
Description
The species of the genus Lepismium growing epiphytic or lithophytic, shrub-like with creeping or arching stems, arising from the drive side ( mesotonisch ) branch. The most segmented shoots are cylindrical, ribbed, winged, angular or flattened leaf-like, but not tuberculate. On the shoots, the leaves are usually visible as a rudimentary scales. The areoles are sitting conspicuously at the edges of the ribs, and often in their notches. Spines can be present or absent.
The side- appearing flowers are wheel-shaped, bell-shaped or until something tubular. Your Perikarpell is often tuberculate and spiny, but can also be edged or not spined. The flower tube is very short or absent.
The berry-like fruits are bright colored or translucent. They are conspicuously veined and sometimes thorns. The fruits contain oblong or ovate, brown or black seeds, which are up to 1 mm long.
Systematics and distribution
The genus Lepismium is distributed mainly in the east of Bolivia. Some species are found in Brazil and Argentina.
The first description was published in 1835 by Ludwig Georg Karl Pfeiffer. As Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Lektotypus Nelson Rose firmly laid in 1923 Lepismium commune. After Wilhelm Barthlott and Nigel Paul Taylor the genus is divided into six sub- genera and includes the following types:
- Subgenus Pfeiffera ( Salm- Dyck ) Barthlott Lepismium ianthothele ( Monv. ) Barthlott
- Lepismium miyagawae ( Barthlott & Rauh ) Barthlott
- Subgenus Acanthorhipsalis ( K.Schum. ) Barthlott Lepismium brevispinum Barthlott
- Lepismium monacanthum ( Griseb. ) Barthlott
- Subgenus Lymanbensonia ( Kimnach ) Barthlott Lepismium crenatum ( Britton ) Barthlott
- Lepismium micranthum ( Vaupel ) Barthlott
- Subgenus Houlletia Barthlott & N.P.Taylor Lepismium asuntapatense M.Kessler, Ibisch & Barthlott
- Lepismium bolivianum ( Britton ) Barthlott
- Lepismium houlletianum ( Lem. ) Barthlott Lepismium houlletianum f houlletianum
- Lepismium houlletianum f regnellii ( G.Lindb. ) Süpplie
- Subgenus Lepismium Lepismium cruciforme ( Vell. ) Miq.
- Lepismium incachacanum ( Cárdenas ) Barthlott
- Subgenus Ophiorhipsalis ( K.Schum. ) Barthlott Lepismium lumbricoides ( Lem. ) Barthlott
Synonyms of the genus are Pfeiffera Salm- Dyck, Acanthorhipsalis ( K.Schum. ) Britton & Rose, Acanthorhipsalis Kimnach, Lymanbensonia Kimnach, Nothorhipsalis Doweld and Ophiorhipsalis ( K.Schum. ) Doweld.
In his The New Cactus Lexicon David Richard Hunt was limited in 2006, partly due to molecular genetic studies from 2002, the genus Lepismium to the subgenera Lepismium, Ophiorhipsalis and parts of the subgenus Houlletia and put the subgenera Acanthorhipsalis, Lymanbensonia and two species of the subgenus Houlletia in the Pfeiffera genus, which he recognized again. After Hunt only include the types Lepismium cruciforme, Lepismium houlletianum, Lepismium incachacanum, Lepismium lorentzianum, Lepismium lumbricoides and Lepismium warmingianum to the genus Lepismium.
Further molecular genetic studies showed 2010 that proposed by Hunt description of the genus Pfeiffera on this scale is not monophyletic. Lepismium brevispinum, Lepismium incachacanum ( Pfeiffera ianthothele ) and Lepismium crenatum ( Pfeiffera crenata ) form a clearly separated from the other species of the genus Pfeiffera line of development, for which the authors suggested the re- recognition of the genus Lymanbensonia in an enlarged scale. As a result of these findings, there is a genus only of the five types Lepismium cruciforme, Lepismium houlletianum, Lepismium lorentzianum, Lepismium lumbricoides and Lepismium warmingianum.