''Castellanosia caineana'' is a species of plant in the

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

''Castellanosia''. It is native to

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Description

''Castellanosia caineana'' is a species of tree like cactus native to South America that branching freely at the base, has 8-9 ribs and can grow 5–6 meters tall. Diurnal, tubular flowers of a deep red color bloom from mature stem tips. No cephalia are present on the tip, though heteromorphic spination does occur on the mature stems. Lower branches bear long thorns, whilst the flowering apex bears only fine bristles. The grey-green stems are Long and cylindrical, clearly jointed, somewhat flexible. Stem segments 30–40 cm long and 8–11 cm in diameter. The grey areola are circular and spread 3 cm apart. Each areola on young stems contains 4 radial spine, 7 cm long, and 15-16 radial spines. On the flowering areola, There are 25-26 fine, bristle-like spines. Spines are noticeably dimorphic, changing as it grows. Cutting taken from mature stems will not continue to grow mature areola. Mature Areola only grow once they reach a certain height like that of

Pilosocereus ''Pilosocereus'' (from Latin, "hairy cereus") is a genus of cactus native to the Neotropics. Tree cactus is a common name for ''Pilosocereus'' species. The genera ''Caerulocereus'' and ''Pseudopilocereus'' are synonyms of this genus. The commonl ...

. The flowers are a purplish red, around 3–5 cm long and are produced above the bristle-carrying areoles. Flower buds naked. Ovary and tube have wide overlapping abruptly tapered scales, and dense creamy felt in their axils. The outer perianth segments are obtuse, while the inner ones are broadly lanceolate (Acute) and purple. The anther is long and flattened, pale yellow. The style is more or less prominent, thick, and pink. flowers contain 15 stigma-lobes of pinkish- white color. Fruits are greenish-yellow, globose, and up to 3 centimeters long. Seeds are less than 1mm and are a reddish brown.

Range

''Castellanosia'' is native to the

Cochabamba Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...

and

Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia) Santa Cruz () is the largest of the Departments of Bolivia, nine constituent departments of Bolivia, occupying about one-third (33.74%) of the country's territory. With an area of , it is slightly smaller than Japan or the United States, US st ...

states of

and to northwest

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Habitat

''Castellanosia'' is found growing in dry thickets with sandy soil that isn't suitable for cultivation.

Ecology

''Castellanosia'' is found growing with

Stetsonia coryne ''Stetsonia coryne'', the toothpick cactus, is the sole species in the cactus genus ''Stetsonia''. ''Stetsonia coryne'' is native to arid regions of South America, where it grows to a height of tall. It contains mescaline and other alkaloids. ...

Cleistocactus baumannii ''Cleistocactus baumannii'' is a species of ''Cleistocactus'' found in Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of ...

, and

Praecereus saxicola ''Praecereus saxicola'' is a flowering plant in the family Cactaceae that is found in Bolivia, Argentina and Paraguay Description Praecereus saxicola grows shrubby with sparsely to well branched, upright to spreading, blue green stems of 1.5 t ...

common. Castellanosia also support many species of airplant and

epiphytes An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another 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 epiphyt ...

Etymology

The genus name Castellanosia is named for Argentine botanist and explorer Alberto Castellanos, while the specific epithet Caineana is named for its occurrence in the Rio Caine Valley.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q14326316, from2=Q14326390 Cereeae