''Matucana'' is a
genus of
cacti
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 ...
(
family Cactaceae), containing approximately 20
species of mostly globular plants. The genus is only known from
Peru,
mostly along the
Marañón River.
The first species was discovered near the town of
Matucana and described as ''
Echinocactus haynii'' by
Otto in 1849. ''Matucana'' was erected by Britton & Rose in 1922.
The genus ''Eomatucana''
F.Ritter
Friedrich Ritter (9 May 1898 – 9 April 1989) was a German Botany, botanist who collected and described many species of cacti. ''Ritterocereus'' is named in his honour.
References
1898 births
1989 deaths
{{botanist-stub ...
has been brought into
synonymy with this genus.
Some species are endangered due to collection for the specialist market.
Description
Low, globose or shortly cylindrical bodies, either solitary or clustering. The flowers are subapical, usually more or less
zygomorphic, diurnal, in various colours, but mainly red, yellow or pink. However, a few species, notably ''M. oreodoxa'', have
actinomorphic flowers and were placed in a separate genus - ''Eomatucana'' - by
F. Ritter. They are reported to flower easily at a young age.
Cultivation
All members of the genus cannot tolerate too much moisture and must be watered only during their growing season and when the
substrate
Substrate may refer to:
Physical layers
*Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached
** Substrate (locomotion), the surface over which an organism lo ...
is dry.
They must also be kept warm through the winter or risk losing their roots.
Members of ''Matucana'' grow quickly and may be grown from seed.
Species
As of 2021 species include:
References
* Bregman, Rob: ''The Genus Matucana. Biology and systematics of fascinating Peruvian cacti''. A.A.Balkema 1996.
* Ritter, Friedrich: ''Kakteen in Südamerika'', Band 4, s. 1486-87. Friedrich Ritter Selbstverlag 1981.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q311767
Trichocereeae
Cacti of South America
Endemic flora of Peru
Cactoideae genera