''Soehrensia schickendantzii'' is a cactus found in northwestern
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in provinces of
Salta
Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
and
Tucumán at elevations of 1600 to 3200 meters.
Description
''Soehrensia schickendantzii'' grows shrubby, occasionally solitary, but usually branches out from the base and forms clumps. The cylindrical to elongated, shiny light green shoots are 15 to 25 centimeters long and have diameters of up to 6 centimeters. There are 14 to 18 low and somewhat sharp ribs that are notched. The areoles on it are very close together and occasionally even touch. The yellowish thorns originating from the areoles are flexible and up to 1 centimeter long. Four central spines are formed. Occasionally the number increases with age. There are nine marginal spines.
The hypanthium is tubular to funnel-shaped, white, unscented flowers appear near the top of the shoot and open at night. They are 20 to 22 inches long. The flower tube is densely hairy black. The spherical, dark green fruits are sweet and tear open. They have a length of up to 6 centimeters and a diameter of 5 centimeters.
Taxonomy
The plant was first
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 ...
by
Frédéric Albert Constantin Weber Frédéric Albert Constantin Weber (17 May 1830 in Wolfisheim – 27 July 1903 in Paris) was a French botanist, who specialized in Cactaceae.
In 1852 he received his medical doctorate from the University of Strasbourg with the thesis ''De l'hémor ...
and published in 1896 as ''Echinopsis schickendantzii'' then Schlumpb. re-named it as ''Soehrensia schickendantzii'' in Cactaceae Syst. Init. vol.28: 31 in 2012.
The Latin epithet of ''schickendantzii'' honors the German chemist
Friedrich Schickendantz
Friedrich Schickendantz (also known as Federico Schickendantz) (15 January 1837 – 4 April 1896) was a Germans, German naturalized Argentine scientist who worked in the fields of mineralogy, chemistry, botany, geology, and meteorology. He was bor ...
(1837–1896), who emigrated to Argentina in 1861.
References
External links
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q290784
Cacti of South America
Flora of Northwest Argentina
schickendantzii