Cleistocactus
Cleistocactus strausii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Subfamily: Cactoideae
Tribe: Cereeae
Subtribe: Trichocereinae
Genus: Cleistocactus
Lem.
Type species
Cleistocactus baumannii
Species

See text

Cleistocactus is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae, native to mountainous areas - to 3,000 m (9,843 ft)[1] - of South America (Peru, Uruguay, Bolivia and Argentina). The name comes from the Greek kleistos meaning closed because the flowers hardly open.

Description

The plants of the genus are slender stem succulents that are tall, mostly slender and often many-branched up to about 3 m high. They usually form basally branching shrubs, rarely they branch higher and form small trees. The shoots stand upright and then often hang over as they get older; they usually lie down with their ends rising up; more rarely they grow hanging. They usually have many ribs, closely set areoles and spines. The areoles on the ribs usually have many fine, hair-like spines with a few firmer spines in between; the spines are rarely longer and coarse.

In most species, the flowers appear in large numbers individually from the areoles. The flowers are tubular and the tips hardly open with only the style and stamens usually protruding. In some species (from the earlier genera Borzicereus and Cephalocleistocactus) they appear from conspicuous zones of heavy bristle and hair formation. In adaptation to the pollinators (hummingbirds), the flowers are long, tubular with upright bracts, which are sometimes not or only slightly folded outwards at the tips and thus appear almost closed. They are often slightly zygomorphic due to an upward bend near the base and/or an oblique flower border (longer or straighter at the top, shorter or more folded at the bottom). The flower colors range from green to white, yellow, orange and red to violet, with shades of red predominating. The densely scaled fruits that emerge after fertilization are relatively small, but usually contain numerous seeds.

Species

Species of the genus Cleistocactus according to Plants of the World Online As of July 2023:[2]

ImageScientific nameDistribution
Cleistocactus ayopayanus CárdenasBolivia
Cleistocactus baumannii (Lem.) Lem.Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay
Cleistocactus brookeae CárdenasBolivia
Cleistocactus buchtienii Backeb.Bolivia
Cleistocactus candelilla CárdenasBolivia
Cleistocactus capadalensis F.RitterBolivia (Chuquisaca)
Cleistocactus chrysocephalus (F.Ritter) MottramBolivia
Cleistocactus dependens CárdenasBolivia
Cleistocactus hildegardiae F.RitterBolivia
Cleistocactus hyalacanthus (K.Schum.) Rol.-Goss.Argentina, Bolivia
Cleistocactus laniceps (K.Schum.) Rol.-Goss.Bolivia
Cleistocactus luribayensis CárdenasBolivia
Cleistocactus micropetalus F.RitterBolivia
Cleistocactus morawetzianus Backeb.Peru
Cleistocactus parviflorus (K.Schum.) Rol.-Goss.Bolivia
Cleistocactus pungens F.RitterPeru
Cleistocactus reae CárdenasBolivia
Cleistocactus ritteri Backeb.Bolivia
Cleistocactus samaipatanus (Cárdenas) D.R.HuntBolivia
Cleistocactus smaragdiflorus (F.A.C.Weber) Britton & RoseArgentina
Cleistocactus strausii (Heese) Backeb.Bolivia, Argentina
Cleistocactus tominensis (Weing.) Backeb.Bolivia
Cleistocactus variispinus F.RitterBolivia
Cleistocactus viridiflorus Backeb.Bolivia (La Paz)
Cleistocactus winteri D.R.HuntBolivia

Synonyms

The following genera have been brought into synonymy with this genus:

References

  1. ↑ RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 1405332964.
  2. ↑ "Cleistocactus Lem". Plants of the World Online. 2021-06-13. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
  • Innes C, Wall B (1995). Cacti, Succulents and Bromaliads. Cassell & The Royal Horticultural Society.
  • The species list is referenced from http://www.cactiguide.com/ which is in turn referenced from several books which are listed on that site. The principal book listed here is The Cactus Family by Edward F. Anderson.
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