Harrisia tortuosa

Harrisia tortuosa is a species of cactus in the Trichocereeae tribe.[2]

Harrisia tortuosa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Subfamily: Cactoideae
Genus: Harrisia
Species:
H. tortuosa
Binomial name
Harrisia tortuosa
(J. Forbes ex Otto & A. Dietr.) Britton & Rose

Description

Harrisia tortuosa grows as a shrub with upright or later arched or prostrate, dark green shoots that are up to 1 meter long with diameters of 2 to 4 centimeters. There are usually seven rounded, slightly tuberous ribs. The one to three strong central thorns, initially red, later become almost black. They are 3 to 4 centimeters long. The six to ten pale and light-colored marginal spines reach a length of up to 2 centimeters.

The flowers reach a length of up to 16 centimeters. The spherical, bumpy red fruits have a few thorns and reach a diameter of 3 to 4 centimeters.[3]

Distribution

It is native to low altitudes in Uruguay, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina and possibly Bolivia.

Harrisia tortuosa is considered an exotic invasive in Australia.[2][4]

Taxonomy

The first description as Cereus tortuosus was made in 1838 by Christoph Friedrich Otto and Albert Gottfried Dietrich.[5] The specific epithet tortuosa means 'tortuous, abundant with coils'. Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose placed the species in the genus Harrisia in 1920. Another nomenclature synonym is Eriocereus tortuosus (J.Forbes ex Otto & A.Dietr.) Riccob. (1909).[6]

References
  1. Oakley, L.; Pin, A. (2017) [amended version of 2013 assessment]. "Harrisia tortuosa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T152724A121546299. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T152724A121546299.en. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  2. "Harrisia cactus" (PDF). Biosecurity Queensland. The State of Queensland, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  3. Anderson, Edward F.; Eggli, Urs (2005). Das grosse Kakteen-Lexikon (in German). Stuttgart (Hohenheim): Ulmer. p. 341. ISBN 3-8001-4573-1.
  4. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry: Biosecurity Queensland (1 January 2016). "Prohibited invasive plants: Harrisia cactus". Business Queensland. Queensland Government. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  5. Forbes, J. (1837). Journal of a horticultural tour through Germany, Belgium, and part of France, in the autumn of 1835. To which is added, A catalogue of the different species of cacteæ in the gardens at Woburn abbey. Journal of a horticultural tour through Germany, Belgium, and part of France, in the autumn of 1835. To which is added, A catalogue of the different species of cacteæ in the gardens at Woburn abbey. J. Ridgway & Sons. p. 154. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  6. Britton, Nathaniel Lord; Eaton, Mary E.; Rose, J. N.; Wood, Helen Adelaide (1919). The Cactaceae : descriptions and illustrations of plants of the cactus family. Washington: Carnegie Institution of Washington. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.46288.


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