Badmin: Created page with "{{Taxobox | name = Thelocactus | image = Thelocactus_bicolor.jpg | kingdom = Plantae | family = Cactaceae | subfamily = Cactoideae | tribe = Cacteae | genus = '''Thelocactus''' | authority = (K.Schum.) Britton & Rose (1922) | notes = Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015) and Mosco & Zanovello (2000). }} == Etymology == The name means "nipple cactus", referring to the characteristic tuberculate (nipple-like) structure of the stems. == Description == '''The..."

2026-04-19T07:52:22Z

Created page with "{{Taxobox | name = Thelocactus | image = Thelocactus_bicolor.jpg | kingdom = Plantae | family = Cactaceae | subfamily = Cactoideae | tribe = Cacteae | genus = '''Thelocactus''' | authority = (K.Schum.) Britton & Rose (1922) | notes = Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015) and Mosco & Zanovello (2000). }} == Etymology == The name means "nipple cactus", referring to the characteristic tuberculate (nipple-like) structure of the stems. == Description == '''The..."

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{{Taxobox
| name = Thelocactus
| image = Thelocactus_bicolor.jpg
| kingdom = [[Plantae]]
| family = [[Cactaceae]]
| subfamily = [[Cactoideae]]
| tribe = [[Cacteae]]
| genus = '''Thelocactus'''
| authority = (K.Schum.) Britton & Rose (1922)
| notes = Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015) and Mosco & Zanovello (2000).
}}

== Etymology ==
The name means "nipple cactus", referring to the characteristic tuberculate (nipple-like) structure of the stems.

== Description ==
'''Thelocactus''' is a genus of small to medium-sized cacti, solitary or forming clumps.

* '''Habit''': Globose, conical to cylindrical plants, usually with depressed apex; up to 40 cm tall.
* '''Ribs''': Often indistinct or fragmented.
* '''Tubercles''': Well developed, rounded or conical, sometimes elongated and grooved.
* '''Areoles''': Situated at the apex of tubercles; nectariferous glands may be present or absent.
* '''Spines''': Usually straight, variable in size and colour; central spines stronger and longer than radials.
* '''Flowers''': Diurnal, funnel-shaped; white, yellow, pink to magenta, rarely orange or red; arising at the apex; pollinated by insects.
* '''Fruits''': Green to reddish, scaly; dehiscing basally through a pore; floral remnants persistent.
* '''Seeds''': Black, pear-shaped; testa cells smooth to warty; dispersal by ants (myrmecochory) and possibly water.

== Habitat ==
The genus occupies a wide range of environments:

* limestone, gypsum, sandy and alluvial soils
* rocky slopes and plains
* desert scrub (matorral) and grasslands
* occasionally mountainous areas and pine forests

Altitude range: approximately 50–2700 m.

== Distribution ==
* '''Mexico''': Coahuila, Durango, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas
* '''USA''': New Mexico, Texas

== Taxonomy ==
Originally described by K. Schumann (1898) as a subgenus of ''Echinocactus'', ''Thelocactus'' was elevated to genus rank by Britton & Rose (1922).

The circumscription of the genus has historically been unstable:

* ''Gymnocactus'' was separated and later merged into ''Turbinicarpus'' or reassigned
* ''Hamatocactus setispinus'' was temporarily included but later excluded due to clear morphological differences

Molecular studies:

* Butterworth et al. (2002): placed ''Thelocactus'' within a poorly resolved "Ferocactus clade"
* Bárcenas et al. (2011): showed that ''Thelocactus'' s.l. is not strictly monophyletic
* Hernández-Hernández et al. (2011): confirmed instability of the Ferocactus-related clade
* Vázquez-Sánchez et al. (2013): supported a broader clade including ''Thelocactus'', ''Leuchtenbergia'' and related taxa

Pending further revision, the genus is treated here in its traditional circumscription.

== Species ==
Following Mosco & Zanovello (2000) and Lodé (2015).

* [[Thelocactus bicolor]]
** [[Thelocactus bicolor subsp. bolaensis]]
** [[Thelocactus bicolor subsp. flavidispinus]]
** [[Thelocactus bicolor subsp. heterochromus]]
** [[Thelocactus bicolor subsp. schwarzii]]
* [[Thelocactus buekii]]
** [[Thelocactus buekii subsp. matudae]]
* [[Thelocactus conothelos]]
** [[Thelocactus conothelos subsp. argenteus]]
** [[Thelocactus conothelos subsp. aurantiacus]]
** [[Thelocactus conothelos subsp. flavus]]
** [[Thelocactus conothelos subsp. garciae]]
* [[Thelocactus hastifer]]
* [[Thelocactus hexaedrophorus]]
** [[Thelocactus hexaedrophorus subsp. lloydii]]
* [[Thelocactus lausseri]]
* [[Thelocactus leucacanthus]]
** [[Thelocactus leucacanthus subsp. schmollii]]
* [[Thelocactus macdowellii]]
* [[Thelocactus multicephalus]]
* [[Thelocactus rinconensis]]
** [[Thelocactus rinconensis subsp. freudenbergeri]]
** [[Thelocactus rinconensis subsp. hintonii]]
** [[Thelocactus rinconensis subsp. nidulans]]
* [[Thelocactus tulensis]]

== Notes ==
* The genus remains taxonomically complex and partially unresolved.
* Some taxa historically included (e.g. ''Hamatocactus setispinus'') are now excluded.
* Molecular data suggest relationships within a broader Ferocactus-related lineage.

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

Thelocactus - Revision history