Sclerocactus
Sclerocactus parviflorus typical flower
Sclerocactus is a genus of flowering plants of the cactus family ( Cactaceae ).
Description
Vegetative characteristics
The species of the genus Sclerocactus grow small change, usually singly, but occasionally clumping. The spherical to cylindrical, rarely depressed spherical shoots are tuberculate or ribbed and spined. The little bearing on the part of thorns also extended areoles often have nectar glands. The one to six central spines, which may be absent occasionally are colored differently. One or more of them are hooked. They are up to 9 inches long. The usually white or gray, sometimes darker two to eleven spines are straight and up to 6 inches long.
Flowers
The numbers that appear at the apex of the shoots short funnel-shaped or bell-shaped flowers open during the day. Your Perikarpell and the corolla tube are bald.
Fruit and seeds
The egg-shaped, cylindrical, clavate or tönnchenförmigen fruits are usually scaly. They are either fleshy and not tearing up or maturity drying up and then tearing up differently. The flowers rest is enduring. The fruits contain brown or blackish brown, shiny or matte, broadly ovate, keeled or not keeled seeds. The seed coat is slightly sculptured.
Dissemination
Sclerokakteen are in the southwestern United States, distributed near the Colorado River and in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. Your scattered occurrences spread over the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, their unique ecological niches are the origin of the wealth of variations within each species.
Their occurrence is influenced by climatic and regional characteristics. At some localities overlap of species are possible. Nevertheless, barriers prevent genetically constructed the common heyday example of Sclerocactus polyancistrus and Sclerocactus nyensis and Sclerocactus parviflorus and Sclerocactus wetlandicus.
System
The first description of the genus by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose was published in 1922. The type species of the genus Echinocactus is polyancistrus. After Fritz Hochstätter three sections of the genus Sclerocactus be distinguished:
- Section mesae - Verdae Hochstätter Sclerocactus mesae - verdae ( Boissev. & C.Davidson ) LDBenson
- Sclerocactus wetlandicus Hochstätter Sclerocactus wetlandicus subsp. wetlandicus
- Sclerocactus wetlandicus subsp. ilseae Hochstätter
- Sclerocactus parviflorus Clover & Jotter Sclerocactus parviflorus subsp. parviflorus
- Sclerocactus parviflorus subsp. havasupaiensis ( Clover ) Hochstätter
- Sclerocactus parviflorus subsp. terrae - canyonae ( K.D.Heil ) K.D.Heil & J.M.Porter
- Sclerocactus parviflorus subsp. macrospermus Hochstätter
- Sclerocactus parviflorus subsp. variiflorus Hochstätter
- Sclerocactus whipplei subsp. whipplei
- Sclerocactus whipplei subsp. busekii Hochstätter
- Sclerocactus whipplei subsp. cloverae ( K.D.Heil & J.M.Porter ) Hochstätter
- Sclerocactus polyancistrus ( Engelm. & JMBigelow ) Britton & Rose
- Sclerocactus nyensis Hochstätter
- Sclerocactus pubispinus ( Engelm. ) L.D.Benson
- Sclerocactus spinosior ( Engelm. ) D.Woodruff & LDBenson Sclerocactus spinosior subsp. spinosior
- Sclerocactus spinosior subsp. blainei ( S.L.Welsh & K.H.Thorne ) Hochstätter
As not belonging to the genus Fritz Hochstätter looks at the types Sclerocactus papyracanthus, Sclerocactus brevihamatus, Sclerocactus scheeri and Sclerocactus uncinate. Sclerocactus papyracanthus he leads in the monotypic genus Toumeya. Alexander Borisovich Doweld in 2001 resulted in the remaining species the genus Ancistrocactus in a close paraphrase genus with two species and five subspecies again, but this is not generally accepted.