''Schlumbergera russelliana'' is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

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 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to a small area of the coastal mountains of south-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 ...

where its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is moist forest. It grows on trees as an

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 ...

. It is one of the parents of many of the popular houseplants known as Christmas cactus or Thanksgiving cactus.

Description

''Schlumbergera russelliana'' resembles other species of the

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 ...

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 ...

'' in that it has leafless green stems which act as

photosynthetic Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored in c ...

organs. The stems (

cladode Phylloclades and cladodes are flattened, photosynthetic shoots, which are usually considered to be modified branches. The two terms are used either differently or interchangeably by different authors. ''Phyllocladus'', a genus of conifer, is name ...

s) are composed of strongly flattened segments, which have a small number of notches along their edges. Individual segments are about long by wide. Special structures characteristic of cacti, called "

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 ...

s", occur in the notches at the side of a segment and at the end. The areoles, which bristles up to long, are where the flower buds appear. The flowers hang downwards and are radially symmetrical (regular). They are about long by across. The

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s, which are of various shades of pink, are arranged in two groups, giving the appearance of a "flower within a flower". The inner tepals are longer and fused together at the base to form a floral tube about long; nectar is produced at the base of this tube. Plants flower in the spring; when cultivated in the Northern Hemisphere the flowering period is February to April. A characteristic of the genus ''Schlumbergera'' is that the many

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are arranged in two series: the inner stamens form a ring around the style; the outer stamens arise from the floral tube. The stamens are pale pink with pink pollen. The style has six to eight lobes at its end and is darker pink. The fruit is greenish-yellow, with four to five ribs. The shiny seeds are dark brown, each with a diameter of about .

Taxonomy

The species was discovered for science in Brazil in 1837 by George Gardner, whose patron was

John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, (6 July 1766 – 20 October 1839), known as Lord John Russell until 1802, was a British Whig politician who notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was the fathe ...

. It was first named in 1839 by W.J. Hooker as ''Epiphyllum russellianum''; the epithet was Gardner's suggestion to honour his patron. In 1858

Charles Lemaire Charles LeMaire (April 22, 1897 – June 8, 1985) was an American costume designer. He was born in Chicago. LeMaire's early career was as a vaudeville performer, but he became a costume designer for such Broadway productions as ''Ziegfeld Folli ...

created the genus ''Schlumbergera'' for this species – which is thus the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the genus – but changed the specific epithet to ''epiphylloides'', which is not allowed under the current rules of botanical nomenclature; he should have called it ''Schlumbergera russelliana'', which is its current name. Synonyms include: * ''Epiphyllum russellianum'' Hooker * ''Cereus russellianus'' Gardner ex Hooker * ''Phyllocactus russellianus'' (Hooker) Salm-Dyck * ''Schlumbergera epiphylloides'' Lem., nom. illeg.

Distribution and habitat

''Schlumbergera russelliana'' occurs only in a small area of the coastal mountains of south-east

, in the state of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, located in the southernmost part of the tropics. It has only been found in the Organ Mountains (Serra dos Órgãos) in the

Parque Nacional da Serra dos Órgãos Parque is the Galician, Portuguese and Spanish word for "park", and may refer to: * Parque (TransMilenio), a metro station in Bogotá, Colombia * Parque (Lisbon Metro), in Portugal * Parque (Santurce), a subbarrio in San Juan, Puerto Rico * Jim ...

. Plants grow at altitudes of . Because of their altitude and proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, the coastal mountains have high humidity – warm moist air is forced upwards into higher, colder locations where it condenses. ''S. russelliana'' usually grows on trees (

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 ...

Cultivation

''Schlumbergera russelliana'' is mainly grown in the form of its hybrids with other species of the genus, particularly the hybrid ''S. russelliana'' × '' S. truncata'', which has been called ''S.'' × ''buckleyi'' (T.Moore) Tjaden or ''S.'' Buckleyi Group. The hybrid '' S. orssichiana'' × ''S. russelliana'' has also been made in cultivation; it has been given the name ''S.'' × ''eprica'' Süpplie. These plants and their cultivation are discussed at ''Schlumbergera:'' Cultivation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q309874 Flora of Brazil russelliana Plants described in 1839