Badmin: Created page with "{{Taxobox | name = Acanthocephala | image = Acanthocephala.jpg | kingdom = Plantae | family = Cactaceae | subfamily = Cactoideae | tribe = Notocacteae | genus = '''Acanthocephala''' | notes = Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015–2019). }} == Etymology == The name ''Acanthocephala'' derives from the Greek words ''akantha'' (spine) and ''kephale'' (head), referring to the dense spination covering the plant body. == Description == '''Acanthocephala''' is a..."

2026-03-26T09:14:04Z

Created page with "{{Taxobox | name = Acanthocephala | image = Acanthocephala.jpg | kingdom = Plantae | family = Cactaceae | subfamily = Cactoideae | tribe = Notocacteae | genus = '''Acanthocephala''' | notes = Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015–2019). }} == Etymology == The name ''Acanthocephala'' derives from the Greek words ''akantha'' (spine) and ''kephale'' (head), referring to the dense spination covering the plant body. == Description == '''Acanthocephala''' is a..."

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{{Taxobox
| name = Acanthocephala
| image = Acanthocephala.jpg
| kingdom = [[Plantae]]
| family = [[Cactaceae]]
| subfamily = [[Cactoideae]]
| tribe = [[Notocacteae]]
| genus = '''Acanthocephala'''
| notes = Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015–2019).
}}

== Etymology ==
The name ''Acanthocephala'' derives from the Greek words ''akantha'' (spine) and ''kephale'' (head), referring to the dense spination covering the plant body.

== Description ==
'''Acanthocephala''' is a genus of small, usually solitary cacti, globose to somewhat elongated, with a depressed apex. The ribs are numerous (30–60), low, and divided into spirally arranged tubercles.

Spines are very numerous (25–60), small but stiff and dense, typically white to yellow.

Flowers are diurnal, small, apical, and funnel-shaped to campanulate, with a short tube. They range in color from greenish and yellowish to orange or red. The flowers are self-fertile and mainly pollinated by insects.

Fruits are spherical, densely bristly, and often dry on the plant without opening. Seeds are small, elongated, black, and strongly warty.

== Habitat ==
The genus grows in grasslands and rocky environments, often in crevices or among moss, from low elevations up to about 1500 m.

== Distribution ==
* Brazil – Rio Grande do Sul

== Species ==
The genus includes the following species:

* [[Acanthocephala graessneri]]
* [[Acanthocephala haselbergii]]

== Notes ==
* Originally described by Backeberg (1938).
* The name ''Brasilicactus'' was historically used but is now considered illegitimate.
* The genus has been included in broader concepts of ''Notocactus'' and ''Parodia'', but is maintained as distinct in this system.
* The name may cause confusion with similarly named organisms outside botany.

[[Category:Cactaceae genera]]
[[Category:Notocacteae]]

Acanthocephala - Revision history