'' Weingartia'' is a genus in the family

Cactaceae 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, ...

, with species native to

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

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. It was formerly included in ''

Rebutia ''Rebutia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cactaceae, native to Bolivia and Argentina. The limits of the genus have varied widely, depending on whether genera such as ''Aylostera'' and ''Weingartia'' are included or treated separate ...

'', but

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

evidence suggested that it was distinct from that genus. , it was treated as separate genus by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

, and recognized as an alternative generic name in the third edition of the ''CITES Cactaceae Checklist''. It may also be treated as ''Rebutia'' subg. ''Weingartia''.

Description

Plants usually solitary. Stems globose to oblong, to 20 cm high and 15 cm, rarely 30 cm in diameter, fresh green. Ribs 12 – 18, spiraling, forming distinct tubercles. Areoles on the tubercle in excentric position, sunken in its higher part. Spines more robust and thick, 7 – 35 in one areole, radial spines 1 – 3 cm long, central spines 3 – 4, to 5 cm long. Flowers borne near the stem tips, one areole can produce up to 3 flowers, golden yellow to orange to reddish yellow, 1 – 3 cm in diameter. Floral tube scales broad and imbricated. Fruits globose to ovoid, brownish. Seeds oblong, 1 mm long, black or brown.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Weingartia'' was designated in 1937 by Werdermann to replace the invalid genus ''Spegazzinia'' Backeberg. All species of the genus ''Weingartia'' were transferred to the genus ''Rebutia'' by the International Cactaceae Systematics Group (ICSG) of the International Organization for Succulent Plant Study. A study in 2007 indicated that the genus ''Rebutia'' as then defined was polyphyletic. ''Sulcorebutia'' and ''Weingartia'' were kept as separate genera in the study; a summary

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...

for those species studied is shown below. Species formerly classified as ''Weingartia'', ''Sulcorebutia'' and ''Cintia'' show a close relationship to each other. , ''Sulcorebutia'' and ''Cintia'' are included in ''Weingartia'' by

Species

, the following species were accepted by Plants of the World Online]:

Distribution

Andes mountains of central and south Bolivia and northwest Argentina at elevations of 1600 – 3600 m.

References

Literature

* Augustin K.: ''Weingartia: history, description and reclassification''. Cactus & Co. 7. (2): 91–126, 2003 * Ritter Fr.: '' Kakteen in Südamerika'', Spangenberg, 1980. * Anderson E. F.: ''The Cactus Family'', Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 2001. {{Authority control Cereeae genera