''Coryphantha'' (from

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, "flowering on the top"), or beehive cactus, is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of small to middle-sized, globose or columnar

cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

. The genus is

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to arid parts of Central America, Mexico, through Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas and north into southwestern, central, and southeastern Montana. With its two

subgenera In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

, 57

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

and 20

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

, it is one of the largest genera of cactus.Dicht, Reto F. and Lüthy, Adrian D. (2005) ''Coryphantha: Cacti of Mexico and Southern USA''. Springer, Berlin, p. 1,

Description

There are four characteristics that distinguish ''Coryphantha'' from other cacti. # Their bodies do not have ribs, just

tubercle In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projectio ...

s.Dicht, Reto F. and Lüthy, Adrian D. (2005) "3.2 Tubercles" ''Coryphantha: Cacti of Mexico and Southern USA''. Springer, Berlin, pp. 9–12, # The flowers form at the top of the plant (the apex or growing end of the stem). # The tip ( podarium) of each flowering tubercle has three parts, the spiny

areole In botany, areoles are small light- to dark-colored bumps on cactus, cacti out of which grow clusters of Thorns, spines, and prickles, spines. Areoles are important diagnostic features of cactus, cacti, and identify them as a family distinct fr ...

, the groove and the

axil A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...

. Without the groove it is not a ''Coryphantha''. # The seed coat (or testa) has a net-like pattern (

reticulate Reticulation is a net-like pattern, arrangement, or structure. Reticulation or Reticulated may refer to: * Reticulation (single-access key), a structure of an identification tree, where there are several possible routes to a correct identificati ...

).Dicht, Reto F. and Lüthy, Adrian D. (2005) "3.7 Seeds" ''Coryphantha: Cacti of Mexico and Southern USA''. Springer, Berlin
p. 17-20
More than many other cacti, the ''Coryphantha'' change in their appearance over their lifespan.Dicht, Reto F. and Lüthy, Adrian D. (2005) ''Coryphantha: Cacti of Mexico and Southern USA''. Springer, Berlin, p. 2, The presence or absence of a central spine is not indicative of the genus, even in fully adult plants.

Name

The name ''Coryphantha'' was first applied by

George Engelmann George Engelmann, also known as Georg Engelmann, (2 February 1809 – 4 February 1884) was a German-American botanist. He was instrumental in describing the flora (plants), flora of the west of North America, then very poorly known to Europeans; ...

in 1856 as a subgenus,Anderson, Edward F. (2001) "Coryphantha" ''The Cactus Family''. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon
p. 186
the earlier name ''Aulacothele'' of

Lemaire Lemaire (or LeMaire or Le Maire) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adrien Lemaire (1852–1902), French botanist * Alfred Jean Baptiste Lemaire (1842–1907), French military musician * Axelle Lemaire (born 1974), French poli ...

having been abandoned.Dicht, Reto F. and Lüthy, Adrian D. (2005) ''Coryphantha: Cacti of Mexico and Southern USA''. Springer, Berlin
p. 23
In 1868 Lemaire promoted the group to genus level. Before this all ''Coryphantha'' had been classified as ''

Mammillaria ''Mammillaria'' is one of the largest genera in the cactus family (Cactaceae), with currently 200 known species and varieties recognized. Most of the mammillarias are native to Mexico, while some come from the Southwestern United States, the C ...

''.

Species

Synonymy

The genus has two valid

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

: *''Cumarinia'' Buxb. and *''Lepidocoryphantha''

Backeb. Curt Backeberg (2 August 1894 in Lüneburg, Germany – 14 January 1966) was a German horticulturist especially known for the collection and classification of cacti. Biography He travelled extensively through Central and South America, and publi ...

and three invalid ones: *''Aulacothele'' Monv. (nom. inval.) *''Glandulifera'' ( Salm-Dyck) Fric (nom. inval.) *''Roseia'' Fric (nom. inval.)

Related genera

A number of ''Coryphantha'' have previously been classified in other genera, indeed the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...

''C. sulcata'' was originally named ''Mammillaria sulcata'' Other examples include ''Echinocactus salinensis'' Poselger 1853 now ''Coryphantha salinensis'' (Poselger) Dicht and A.Lüthy 1998 and ''Neolloydia pulleineana'' Blackberg 1948 now ''Coryphantha pulleineana'' (Blackberg) Glass 1968. Similarly, a number of other species have been previously classified as ''Coryphantha''. For example, ''Escobaria vivipara'' was called ''Coryphantha vivipara''.Hunt, David R. and Benson, Lyman (1976) "The lectotype of ''Coryphantha''". ''Cactus and Succulent Journal'' (U.S.) 48: pp. 72ff.

Gallery

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Coryphantha'' (beehive cactus)

USDA Plants Profile: gallery of ''Coryphantha'' images
{{Authority control Cactoideae genera Flora of Central America Flora of the South-Central United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the Northwestern United States Cacti of Mexico Cacti of the United States Taxa named by George Engelmann