''Uebelmannia pectinifera'' is a species of

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

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, ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

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 ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are dry

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

and rocky areas. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

Description

''Uebelmannia pectinifer'' is a solitary and globular species, becoming columnar with age, grows with dark reddish-brown to grayish, more or less cylindrical bodies that reach heights of growth of up to 100 centimeters and a diameter of up to 15 centimeters. The epidermis usually appears granular and is covered with waxy white scales. The 15 to 40 ribs are sharp-edged. The brownish to gray felty

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 ...

s on it are very close together. The 1 to 4 brown to almost black spines are protruding, often intertwine and then form a "comb". They are up to 2 centimeters long. The slender, funnel-shaped, light yellow flowers that bloom diurnal in the summer, up to 1.5 centimeters long and reach a diameter of 1 centimeter. The pear-shaped to cylindrical fruits are purple-red and 1.5 to 2.5 centimeters long, the seeds are small and black.

Subspecies

Accepted subspecies:

Distribution

''Uebelmannia pectinifera'' is widespread in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais and grows on sandstones containing quartzite growing in rock pockets in dry savanna at elevations of 650 to 1350 meters.

Taxonomy

The first description was made in 1967 by

Albert Frederik Hendrik Buining Albert Frederik Hendrik Buining (25 August 1901 in Groningen – 9 May 1976) was a Dutch botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant ...

. The specific epithet pectinifera is derived from the Latin words pecten for 'comb' and -fer for '-bearing' and refers to the comb-like spines of the species.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q112900 Flora of Brazil Uebelmannia Least concern plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot