''Bergerocactus emoryi'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

cactus 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 ...

, known commonly as the golden-spined cereus, golden snake cactus, velvet cactus or golden club cactus. It is a relatively small cactus, but it can form dense thickets or colonies, with the dense yellow spines giving off a velvety appearance when backlit by the sun. From April to May, yellow, green-tinged flowers emerge, which transform into reddish, globular fruit. This species is native to the

California Floristic Province The California Floristic Province (CFP) is a floristic province with a Mediterranean-type climate located on the Pacific Coast of North America with a distinctive flora similar to other regions with a winter rainfall and summer drought climate l ...

, and is found in northwestern

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

and a small part of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, in

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

and on the southern

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

. Where the

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

of the California Floristic Province collides with the subtropical

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

near El Rosario, hybrids with two other species of cacti are found. It is the sole member of the monotypic

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 ...

''Bergerocactus'', named after German botanist

Alwin Berger Alwin Berger (28 August 1871 – 20 April 1931) was a German botanist best known for his contribution to the nomenclature of succulent plants, particularly agaves and cacti. Born in Germany he worked at the botanical gardens in Dresden and Fran ...

Description

This species is a

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

-like cactus, forming

thicket A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in the ...

s of columnar to prostrate stems. The colonies have a velvety appearance when backlit by the sun. The stems are usually less than long, covered in numerous, interlaced, yellow and needle-like spines. The stems are in diameter, cylindrical, and with 12 to 18 ribs. There are 30 to 45 spines per

areole In botany, areoles are small light- to dark-colored bumps on cacti out of which grow clusters of spines. Areoles are important diagnostic features of cacti, and identify them as a family distinct from other succulent plants. Gordon Rowley - W ...

, and most are less than in diameter. There are 1 to 3 central spines, which are curved downward, the longest less than . The radial spines are straight. The

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 emerges either laterally or at the apex of the stem, at the distal margin of the spine cluster. The flower is long, and in diameter. The

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

is free of hair, and densely spiny. The outer

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when ...

parts are yellow, with the tips more-or-less red, and the midveins green, with the all of the inner perianth colored yellow. After blooming, a reddish, globular

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 ...

emerges, covered in dense spines, and extruding seeds and pulp at the tip. The seeds are large, shiny and black.

Taxonomy

The cactus has a chromosome count of 2n=44. There is an extensive number of common names, which include the golden cereus, golden-spined cereus, golden snake cactus, velvet cactus, golden club cactus. The plant is also known as snake cactus, though this latter name also applies to ''

Echinocereus ''Echinocereus'' is a genus of ribbed, usually small to medium-sized, cylindrical shaped cacti, comprising about 70 species native to the southern United States and Mexico in very sunny, rocky places. Usually the flowers are large and the fruit ...

pensilis''.

Hybrids

The golden cereus is known to

hybridize Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

with other species of cacti. Both occur in the vicinity of El Rosario. Hybrids include:

''× Myrtgerocactus lindsayi''

Moran Moran may refer to: Places Antarctica * Moran Bluff, Marie Byrd Land * Moran Buttress, Marie Byrd Land * Moran Glacier, Alexander Island Asia * Moran Town, Assam, India * Moran, Israel, a kibbutz * Moran Hill, North Korea * Moran Station, a s ...

(Lindsay hybrid cactus) A naturally occurring intergeneric hybrid with ''

Myrtillocactus cochal ''Myrtillocactus cochal'', the candelabra cactus (a name it shares with other plants), is a species of flowering plant in the family Cactaceae, native to Baja California. Individuals can reach , and are hardy to USDA zone A hardiness zone is ...

''. It is a

triploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei ( eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contain ...

plant, which helps substantiate that it is a hybrid between the diploid ''M. cochal'' and the tetraploid ''B. emoryi''. It has light-yellow flowers, and is known only from a few plants. Its generic name comes from those of its parents (''Mytillocactus'' and ''Bergerocactus'') and its

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

, ''"lindsayi"'', is in honor of the botanist George Lindsay. The cactus was first found by Lindsay near

El Rosario, Baja California El Rosario is a town in San Quintín Municipality, Baja California, located on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. The census of 2010 reported a population of 1,704 inhabitants. Geography El Rosario is a small town on the west coast of the state of Baja ...

, in 1950 while on a trip to look for '' Pacherocactus''. Specimens were cultivated at the

Desert Botanical Garden Desert Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located in Papago Park, at 1201 N. Galvin Parkway in Phoenix, central Arizona. Founded by the Arizona Cactus and Native Flora Society in 1937 and established at this site in 1939, the garden now has ...

, finally blooming in 1961 and formally described the following year.

''× Pacherocactus orcuttii''

( K. Brandegee) G.D. Rowley (Orcutt hybrid cactus) A naturally occurring intergeneric hybrid with ''

Pachycereus pringlei ''Pachycereus'' is a genus of 9–12 species of large cacti native to Mexico and just into southern Arizona, United States. They form large shrubs or small trees up to 15 m tall, with stout stems up to 1 m in diameter. ''Pachycereus'' comes fr ...

'', discovered near

. The plant's generic name is formed from those of its parents (''Pachycereus'' and ''Bergerocactus''). Sometimes it can be found listed as ''Pachycereus'' × ''Bergerocactus''. It can grow to a height of about 3.5 m and a diameter of about 10 cm. The cactus does not thrive below 10 °C. Its flowers are green-brown in color and of about 4 cm in size.

Distribution, habitat, and conservation

The plant is near-endemic to

, with the exception of populations on Santa Catalina Island,

San Clemente Island San Clemente Island (Tongva: ''Kinkipar''; Spanish: ''Isla de San Clemente'') is the southernmost of the Channel Islands of California. It is owned and operated by the United States Navy, and is a part of Los Angeles County. It is administered b ...

, and

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. The populations remaining in San Diego are disjunct, located in

Border Field State Park Border Field State Park is a state park of California, United States, containing beach and coastal habitat on the Mexico–United States border. The park is within the city limits of Imperial Beach in San Diego County, next to the suburb of Play ...

, Torrey Pines State Park, and

Cabrillo National Monument Cabrillo National Monument ( es, Monumento nacional Cabrillo) is at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego, California, United States. It commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay on September 28, ...

, as the urban development in San Diego has relegated many species to these protected areas. Other rare species that inhabit these enclaves of

maritime succulent scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is w ...

in San Diego include Shaw's Agave, the

Torrey Pine The Torrey pine (''Pinus torreyana'') is a rare pine species in California, United States. It is a critically endangered species growing only in coastal San Diego County, and on Santa Rosa Island, offshore from Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara ...

, the Tapertip liveforever, cliff spurge, and the San Diego barrel cactus. Aside from urban development, the plant is also threatened by collecting and feral goats. The species is represented on the two of the southern

California Channel Islands The Channel Islands () are an eight-island archipelago located within the Southern California Bight in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. The four Northern Channel Islands are part of the Transverse Ranges geologic province, and ...

. On San Clemente Island, the golden cactus is found inhabiting rocky canyon walls. In Baja California, the species continues from the border south into the succulent scrub to El Rosario. It occurs on numerous islands off the coast; however,

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

and other anthropogenic influences are threatening the insular populations. On

Isla San Martin Isla or ISLA may refer to: Organizations * International Securities Lending Association, a trade association * International School of Los Angeles * International Bilingual School, later named International School of Los Angeles People * Isla (g ...

, a

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

island off of the San Quintin Bay, only a single clump of the cactus is left.

Gallery

File:Bergerocactus emoryi 30796037.jpg, A growing stem File:Bergerocactus emoryi 33128251.jpg, Flowers and flower buds File:Bergerocactus emoryi 93230817.jpg, Growing in habitat File:Bergerocactus emoryi 33820754.jpg, The flower File:Bergerocactus emoryi 33128249.jpg, A budding flower

References

External links

CalFlora Database: ''Bergerocactus emoryi '' (Cunyado, Golden spined cereus)

Jepson eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Bergerocactus emoryi ''

USDA Plants Profile for ''Bergerocactus emoryi ''

UC CalPhotos gallery of ''Bergerocactus emoryi ''
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q8174363, from2=Q134367, from3=Q1115581, from4=Q3888470 Echinocereeae Cacti of Mexico Cacti of the United States Flora of California Flora of Baja California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Cactoideae genera Monotypic Cactaceae genera Endangered biota of Mexico Endangered flora of North America Natural history of San Diego County, California Taxa named by Nathaniel Lord Britton Taxa named by Joseph Nelson Rose