Melocactus

Melocactus (melon cactus), also known as the Turk's cap cactus, or Pope's head cactus, is a genus of cactus with about 30–40 species. They are native to the Caribbean, western Mexico through Central America to northern South America, with some species along the Andes down to southern Peru, and a concentration of species in northeastern Brazil.[2]

Melocactus
Melocactus bahiensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Subfamily: Cactoideae
Tribe: Cereeae
Subtribe: Cereinae
Genus: Melocactus
Link & Otto, nom. cons.[1]
Type species
Melocactus communis (now Melocactus intortus)
Species

See text.

The first species was named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, as Cactus melocactus. When the genus was separated from Cactus, the pre-Linnaean name Melocactus was used. Acting on the principle of priority, in 1922 Nathaniel Britton and Joseph Rose resurrected Linnaeus' Cactus. However, the 1905 Vienna botanical congress had already rejected the name Cactus, so this name was not available, and Melocactus Link & Otto is the correct genus name.[2]

Melocactus plant in fruit.
A Melocactus plant in fruit.

Mature plants are easily recognizable by their cephalium, a wool- and bristle-coated structure at the apex of the plant, containing a mass of areoles from which the small flowers grow.[2] The red, wool-coated cephalium, said to resemble the fez worn by Turkish men during the late Ottoman Empire, gives the plant one of its common names, Turk's cap cactus. It gives its name to the Turks Islands, part of the Turks and Caicos Islands.[3][4]

The fruits of Melocactus are pink and resemble the shape of pepper fruits. The fruits of this genus are edible, and in the wild they are frequently dispersed by lizards and birds.[5]

Species

As of September 2023, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:[1]

ImageScientific nameDistribution
Melocactus acunae LeónEastern Cuba
Melocactus andinus R.Gruber ex N.P.TaylorVenezuela
Melocactus azureus Buining & BrederooBrazil (Bahia)
Melocactus bahiensis (Britton & Rose) Luetzelb.Brazil (Bahia)
Melocactus bellavistensis Rauh & Backeb.Ecuador and Peru
Melocactus braunii EstevesBrazil (Bahia)
Melocactus brederooianus BuiningBrazil (Bahia)
Melocactus broadwayi (Britton & Rose) A.BergerTrinidad & Tobago
Melocactus caroli-linnaei N.P.TaylorJamaica
Melocactus conoideus Buining & BrederooBrazil
Melocactus curvispinus Pfeiff.Mexico, Central America, Colombia and western Venezuela
Melocactus deinacanthus Buining & BrederooBrazil
Melocactus ernestii VaupelBrazil (Bahia and Minas Gerais.)
Melocactus estevesii P.J.BraunBrazil (Roraima)
Melocactus evae Z.MészárosSoutheastern Cuba
Melocactus ferreophilus Buining & BrederooBrazil (Bahia)
Melocactus glaucescens Buining & BrederooBrazil
Melocactus harlowii (Britton & Rose) VaupelCuba
Melocactus heimenii P.J.Braun & Gonç.BritoBrazil (Bahia)
Melocactus holguinensis ArecesCuba
Melocactus inconcinnus Buining & BrederooNortheastern Brazil
Melocactus intortus (Mill.) Urb.Bahamas to Turks-Caicos Islands, Puerto Rico to Lesser Antilles
Melocactus lagunaensis (Z.Mészáros) D.Barrios & MajureSoutheastern Cuba
Melocactus lanssensianus P.J.BraunBrazil (Pernambuco)
Melocactus lemairei (Monv. ex Lem.) Miq. ex Lem.Hispaniola (NW. Haiti, W. & Southern Dominican Republic)
Melocactus levitestatus Buining & BrederooCentral & Eastern Brazil
Melocactus macracanthos (Salm-Dyck) Link & OttoAruba to Netherlands Antilles
Melocactus matanzanus LeónCuba
Melocactus mazelianus RíhaEastern Colombia to Venezuela
Melocactus nagyi Z.MészárosSoutheastern Cuba
Melocactus neoviridescens GuiggiNortheastern Brazil
Melocactus neryi K.Schum.Venezuela to N. Brazil
Melocactus oreas Miq.Brazil
Melocactus pachyacanthus Buining & BrederooBrazil
Melocactus paucispinus Heimen & R.J.PaulBahia, Brazil
Melocactus pedernalensis M.M.Mejía & R.G.GarcíaSoutheastern Haiti to southwestern Dominican Republic
Melocactus perezassoi ArecesCentral Cuba
Melocactus peruvianus VaupelPeru
Melocactus praerupticola ArecesDominican Republic
Melocactus pruinosus Werderm.Brazil (Bahia, Minas Gerais)
Melocactus radoczii Z.MészárosSoutheastern Cuba
Melocactus salvadorensis Werderm.Brazil (Southern Bahia, Minas Gerais)
Melocactus santiagoensis D.Barrios & MajureCuba
Melocactus schatzlii H.Till & R.GruberVenezuela (Mérida)
Melocactus sergipensis N.P.Taylor & MeiadoBrazil (Sergipe)
Melocactus smithii (Alexander) Buining ex G.D.RowleyBrazil
Melocactus stramineus SuringarAruba
Melocactus violaceus Pfeiff.Northeastern Brazil (to Northeastern Minas Gerais)
Melocactus zehntneri (Britton & Rose) Luetzelb.Northeastern Brazil

Natural hybrids

As of September 2023, Plants of the World Online accepted the following natural hybrids:[1]

ImageScientific nameDistribution
Melocactus × albicephalus Buining & BrederooBrazil (Bahia)
Melocactus × horridus Werderm.Brazil (Pernambuco)
Melocactus × trachycephalus SuringarAruba

References

  1. "Melocactus Link & Otto". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  2. Anderson, Edward F. (2001), The Cactus Family, Pentland, Oregon: Timber Press, ISBN 978-0-88192-498-5, pages=456–467
  3. Archived June 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Coastal Lake-Sediment Records of Prehistoric Hurricane Strikes in Honduras and Turks and Caicos Islands of the Caribbean Basin" (PDF). googleusercontent.com. Archived from the original on 2010-07-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. Thomson, George (2008). Melocactus: care and cultivation. p. 13.


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