Hatiora
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''Hatiora'' is a small
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...
cacti which belongs to the tribe
Rhipsalideae The Rhipsalideae are a small tribe of cacti, comprising four genera (and around 60 species). They grow on trees (epiphytes) or on rocks (lithophytes), where they either hang down or form creeping or upright shrubs. Their flowers open in the day ...
within the subfamily Cactoideae of the
Cactaceae A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...
. Recent
taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
studies have led to the three species formerly placed in
subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...
''Rhipsalidopsis'' being removed from the genus, including the well known and widely cultivated ornamental plants known as Easter cactus or Whitsun cactus (cultivars or hybrids of the former '' Hatiora gaertneri'').


Description

All ''Hatiora'' species are found as
epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...
s growing on trees or (rarely)
lithophyte Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are also ...
s growing on rocks. They are found in the
tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...
s of the Mata Atlântica in eastern
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. The plants are weakly
succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...
, growing more or less upright and becoming woody at the base when older. Spines are usually missing. The insect-pollinated
flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
s are borne terminally. They are small, with a diameter of about , actinomorphic (radially symmetrical), bell-shaped and always coloured (yellow, yellow-orange or pink). The
fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
is a
berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...
. By contrast with species of the genus ''Schlumbergera'', most of which have flattened stems, ''Hatiora'' species have stems with a circular cross-section.


Taxonomy

Cacti belonging to the tribe Rhipsalideae are quite distinct in appearance and habit from other cacti, as they grow on trees or rocks as
epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...
s or
lithophyte Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are also ...
s. However, for a long time there has been confusion as to how the rhipsalid species should be divided into genera. In 1819, Haworth described the first discovered species of the modern genus ''Hatiora'' under the name ''Rhipsalis salicornioides''. In 1834,
A.P. de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candolle ...
recognized the distinctness of this species and transferred it to a new genus ''Hariota'', named after Thomas Hariot, a 16th-century botanist. Later a second species, ''H. gaertneri'', was initially named as ''Epiphyllum russellianum'' var. ''gaertneri'' (''Epiphyllum russellianum'' is now ''
Schlumbergera russelliana ''Schlumbergera russelliana'' is a species of plant in the family Cactaceae. It is endemic to a small area of the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil where its natural habitat is moist forest. It grows on trees as an epiphyte. It is one of ...
'') and then in 1889 as ''Epiphyllum gaertneri''. A third species, ''H. rosea'', was described in 1912 as ''Rhipsalis rosea''. By 1923, many nomenclatural uncertainties and confusion had arisen over the name ''Hariota''.
Nathaniel Britton Nathaniel Lord Britton (January 15, 1859 – June 25, 1934) was an American botanist and taxonomist who co-founded the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, New York. Early life Britton was born in New Dorp in Staten Island, New York to Jasper ...
and Joseph Rose created a new name ''Hatiora'' as a taxonomic
anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...
of ''Hariota''. Of the species known at the time, they placed ''Hariota salicornioides'' in ''Hatiora'' along with ''H. cylindrica''; they had already placed ''H. gaertneri'' in ''Schlumbergera'' in 1913 and left it there; and they erected a new genus, ''Rhipsalidopsis'', for ''H. rosea''. Two further species which have been assigned to ''Hatiora'' were placed in various genera, including the original ''Hariota'' and ''Rhipsalis''. According to Anderson, the confusion among the Rhipsalideae was not clarified until work by Wilhelm Barthlott and Nigel Taylor in 1995, which placed six species in ''Hatiora'', divided between two subgenera.
Phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
studies using DNA have led to a modification of the Barthlott and Taylor classification and the three species of ''Hatiora'' they placed in subgenus ''Rhipsalidopsis'' have been transferred out of the genus. There is agreement that ''Hatiora epiphylloides'' should be placed in ''Schlumbergera'' (as ''
Schlumbergera lutea ''Schlumbergera lutea'', synonym ''Hatiora epiphylloides'', is a species of flowering plant in the family Cactaceae, subfamily Cactoideae, native to southeast Brazil. It is a shrubby epiphyte, with flattened stems and bright yellow flowers. De ...
''). There is disagreement over the other two species. Some sources also include them in a broadly defined ''Schlumbergera'', others place them as the only two species in the genus ''Rhipsalidopsis''. ''Hatiora'' and the most broadly
circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...
''Schlumbergera'' both branch from the tip and have short segments (less than 7 cm long). ''Hatiora'' has stems that are round in cross-section and radially symmetrical (actinomorphic) flowers, whereas ''Schlumbergera'' has flattened or otherwise angular stems and its flowers may be radially symmetrical or radially unsymmetrical (zygomorphic).


Subgeneric classification and species

In the taxonomic treatments of the genus by Barthlott & Taylor (1995) and Hunt (2006), ''Hatiora'' was divided into two subgenera with six accepted species, plus a hybrid created in cultivation. Subgenus ''Rhipsalidopsis'' has subsequently been removed from ''Hatiora''. *Subgenus ''Hatiora'', now comprising all of ''Hatiora'' **''
Hatiora cylindrica ''Hatiora cylindrica'' is a species of often epiphytic cactus in the tribe Rhipsalideae within the subfamily Cactoideae. It is native to east Brazil, where it grows in a variety of habitats, including moist forest, dunes and coastal rocks. Descr ...
'' Britton & Rose **'' Hatiora herminiae'' (Porto & A.Cast.) Backeb. ex Barthlott **''
Hatiora salicornioides ''Hatiora salicornioides'', the bottle cactus, dancing-bones, drunkard's-dream, or spice cactus, is a species of flowering plant in the cactus family. A member of the tribe Rhipsalideae, it often grows as an epiphyte. It is native to eastern Bra ...
'' (Haworth) Britton & Rose ex L.H.Bailey *Subgenus ''Rhipsalidopsis'', either transferred to ''
Schlumbergera ''Schlumbergera'' is a small genus of cacti with six to nine species found in the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil. These plants grow on trees or rocks in habitats that are generally shady with high humidity, and can be quite differen ...
'' or split between ''Schlumbergera'' and ''Rhipsalidopsis'' **''Hatiora epiphylloides'' (Porto & Werderm.) Buxb. = ''
Schlumbergera lutea ''Schlumbergera lutea'', synonym ''Hatiora epiphylloides'', is a species of flowering plant in the family Cactaceae, subfamily Cactoideae, native to southeast Brazil. It is a shrubby epiphyte, with flattened stems and bright yellow flowers. De ...
'' **''Hatiora gaertneri'' (Regel) Barthlott = ''
Schlumbergera gaertneri ''Schlumbergera gaertneri'', formerly ''Hatiora gaertneri'', is a species of epiphytic cactus which belongs to the tribe Rhipsalideae within the subfamily Cactoideae of the Cactaceae. Together with the hybrid with '' S. rosea'', ''Schlumber ...
'' or ''Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri'' **''Hatiora rosea'' (Lagerh.) Barthlott = ''
Schlumbergera rosea ''Schlumbergera rosea'', syn. ''Hatiora rosea'', is a species of flowering plant in the family Cactaceae A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 ...
'' or ''Rhipsalidopsis rosea'' **''Hatiora'' × ''graeseri'' (Werderm.) Barthlott ex D.R.Hunt = ''Schlumbergera'' × ''graeseri'' or ''Rhipsalidopsis'' × ''graeseri'' , an artificial hybrid of ''Schlumbergera gaertneri'' and ''Schlumbergera rosea''


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q133297 Cactoideae Cactoideae genera Cacti of South America Endemic flora of Brazil Flora of the Atlantic Forest Epiphytes