Badmin: Created page with "{{Taxobox | name = Escontria | image = Escontria_chiotilla.jpg | kingdom = Plantae | family = Cactaceae | subfamily = Cactoideae | tribe = Pachycereeae | genus = '''Escontria''' | authority = Rose (1906) | notes = Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015). Lodé maintains Escontria as a monotypic genus, distinct from Myrtillocactus. }} == Etymology == The genus is named in honor of Don Blas Escontria (1848–1906), a Mexican engineer and politician who was the..."

2026-04-05T17:20:35Z

Created page with "{{Taxobox | name = Escontria | image = Escontria_chiotilla.jpg | kingdom = Plantae | family = Cactaceae | subfamily = Cactoideae | tribe = Pachycereeae | genus = '''Escontria''' | authority = Rose (1906) | notes = Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015). Lodé maintains Escontria as a monotypic genus, distinct from Myrtillocactus. }} == Etymology == The genus is named in honor of Don Blas Escontria (1848–1906), a Mexican engineer and politician who was the..."

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{{Taxobox
| name = Escontria
| image = Escontria_chiotilla.jpg
| kingdom = [[Plantae]]
| family = [[Cactaceae]]
| subfamily = [[Cactoideae]]
| tribe = [[Pachycereeae]]
| genus = '''Escontria'''
| authority = Rose (1906)
| notes = Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015). Lodé maintains Escontria as a monotypic genus, distinct from Myrtillocactus.
}}

== Etymology ==
The genus is named in honor of Don Blas Escontria (1848–1906), a Mexican engineer and politician who was the governor of San Luis Potosí.

== Description ==
'''Escontria''' is a monotypic genus represented by large, tree-like cacti that can reach up to 7 meters in height.
* '''Stems:''' Short trunk with numerous branches (basitonic to mesotonic branching). The stems are dark green with 7 to 8 acute ribs.
* '''Areoles:''' Large and elliptical, initially separate but becoming confluent (joining together) with age.
* '''Spines:''' Radial spines are numerous and brownish; central spines are longer, flattened, and dagger-like (gladiate).
* '''Flowers:''' Diurnal, relatively small, and yellow. They emerge from the upper areoles and are characterized by a pericarpel covered with numerous imbricated (overlapping) papery scales.
* '''Fruits:''' Globose, purple to reddish, and fleshy. The fruit is covered in persistent papery scales, giving it an appearance similar to a small artichoke. The pulp is edible and sold in local Mexican markets as "chiotilla."
* '''Seeds:''' Small, black, and rugose.

== Habitat ==
Escontria grows in tropical deciduous forests and xerophytic scrublands. It is often found on slopes with volcanic or calcareous soils at altitudes between 1600 m and 2000 m.

== Distribution ==
* '''Mexico:''' Endemic to the states of Guerrero, Michoacán, Oaxaca, and Puebla.

== Species ==
Following Lodé (2015), the genus contains only one species:

* [[Escontria chiotilla]] (Type species)

== Taxonomy ==
While some earlier molecular studies suggested a close relationship with ''Myrtillocactus'', Lodé retains ''Escontria'' as a separate genus based on its unique floral and fruit morphology. The dry, papery scales on the fruit are a definitive autapomorphy that distinguishes it from all other members of the tribe '''Pachycereeae'''.

[[Category:Cactaceae]]
[[Category:Cactoideae]]
[[Category:Pachycereeae]]

Escontria - Revision history