''Cleistocactus samaipatanus'' 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 ...
of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
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 Gree ...
, native to Bolivia.
Description
''Cleistocactus samaipatanus'' grows to tall, it has multiple long, forms branched groups from the base with some upright trunks with diameters of , narrow columnar green stems with pale gold spines. The low, transversely furrowed 14 to 16 ribs are 2 millimeters high and 7 millimeters wide. The
areoles sit on them at a distance of 3 to 4 millimeters, which are initially brownish felt-like on top. From them radiate 13 to 22 thin, unequal spines 4 to 30 millimeters long. These are whitish-ash colored, pale yellowish or brownish.
It grows vigorously with large, pinky-red flowers in summer. The 4 cm long flowers are very crooked and have narrow, looser and reflexed, pointed sepals that are purple. The corolla is slightly compressed. The linear petals are blood red and are up to 15 millimeters long. There is a wool ring at the bottom of the tube. The stamens are in two rows and have dark purple anthers. The handle does not protrude.
The small, spherical fruits are 9 to 11 millimeters long and 7 to 9 millimeters wide. They are densely woolly white and brown with an attached flower remnant and contain tiny blackish-brown or black seeds.
Distribution
Cleistocactus samaipatanus is widespread in the lowlands of the
Bolivian department of Santa Cruz at altitudes of 1000 to 2000 meters.
Taxonomy
The first description of ''Bolivicereus samaipatanus'' was published in 1951 by Martín Cárdenas. David Richard Hunt placed the species in the genus ''
Cleistocactus'' in 1987. Other
nomenclature synonyms are ''Borzicactus samaipatanus'' (Cárdenas) Kimnach (1960) and ''Echinopsis samaipatana'' (Cárdenas) Anceschi & Magli (2013).
In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the species is listed as "Least Concern (LC)".
Culture
In cultivation in the
UK, this plant has gained the
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...
’s
Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017).
However, as it does not tolerate temperatures below , it must be grown under glass, though it may be placed outside during the warm summer months.
Gallery
File:Cleistocactus samaipatanus.jpg
File:Cleistocactus samaipatanus 1.jpg, University of California Botanical Garden
The University of California Botanical Garden is a 34-acre (13.7 ha) botanical garden located on the University of California, Berkeley campus, in Strawberry Canyon. The garden is in the Berkeley Hills, inside the city boundary of Oakland, with ...
File:Caryophyllales - Cleistocactus samaipatanus - kew 1.jpg, Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its living collections include some of the ...
File:Cleistocactus samaipatanus cristata.jpg, ’Cristata’
File:Cleistocactus samaipatanus 3.jpg
File:Cleistocactus samaipatanus f. cristata 01.jpg, forma ''cristata''
File:Cleistocactus samaipatanus f. cristata 02.jpg, forma ''cristata''
References
External links
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q1099783
samaipatanus
Cacti of South America
Flora of Argentina
Flora of Bolivia
Flora of Peru
Flora of Uruguay