View source for Kadenicarpus

{{Taxobox
| name = Kadenicarpus
| image = Kadenicarpus_pseudomacrochele.jpg
| kingdom = [[Plantae]]
| family = [[Cactaceae]]
| subfamily = [[Cactoideae]]
| tribe = [[Cacteae]]
| genus = '''Kadenicarpus'''
| authority = Doweld (1998)
| notes = Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015/2019). Lodé recognizes this genus as distinct from Turbinicarpus based on morphological and molecular evidence.
}}

== Etymology ==
The genus is named in honor of the Russian botanist Nickolai Kaden (1914–1976), combined with the Greek ''karpos'' (fruit).

== Description ==
'''Kadenicarpus''' consists of small, globose to shortly cylindrical cacti, often with a large, tuberous taproot.
* '''Stems''': Solitary or clustering, grey-green to bluish-green. The surface is divided into distinct, often rounded or pyramidal tubercles.
* '''Spines''': Variable, usually relatively soft or papery, often curved or twisted, mimicking dry grass or debris.
* '''Flowers''': Diurnal, funnel-shaped, appearing from the woolly apex. Colors range from white and yellowish to brilliant magenta or purple.
* '''Fruits''': Small, globose, and fleshy at first, but drying and dehiscing (opening) by a basal pore or longitudinal slit.
* '''Seeds''': Small, black, with a tuberculate (bumpy) testa.

== Habitat ==
The genus is endemic to the high-altitude semi-desert regions of Mexico. They grow in specialized niches, often in mineral-rich soils or crevices of limestone rocks, at altitudes between 1700 m and 2400 m.

== Distribution ==
* '''Mexico''': Primarily in the states of Hidalgo, Querétaro, and San Luis Potosí.

== Species and Subspecies ==
Following the 2019 updates by Lodé, the genus includes 2 species and 2 subspecies:

* [[Kadenicarpus horripilus]] (Type species)
* [[Kadenicarpus pseudomacrochele]]
** [[Kadenicarpus pseudomacrochele subsp. krainzianus]]
** [[Kadenicarpus pseudomacrochele subsp. minimus]]

== Taxonomy ==
Formerly part of ''Turbinicarpus'' (Section ''Kadenicarpus''), molecular studies (Vázquez-Sánchez et al., 2013) confirm that these species form a clade more closely related to ''Neolloydia'' and ''Gymnocactus'' than to the core ''Turbinicarpus'' species. Lodé (2015) emphasizes that the larger body size and different fruit dehiscence justify their status as a separate genus.

[[Category:Cactaceae]]
[[Category:Cactoideae]]
[[Category:Cacteae]]