Turbinicarpus
From M&J Cactus Wiki
| Turbinicarpus | |
|---|---|
| File:Turbinicarpus alonsoi.jpg | |
| Kingdom | Plantae |
| Family | Cactaceae |
| Subfamily | Cactoideae |
| Tribe | Cacteae |
| SubTribe | |
| Genus | Turbinicarpus |
| Species | |
| Notes | Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015) with molecular insights from Butterworth et al. (2002), Crozier (2005), and Vázquez-Sánchez et al. (2013). |
Etymology
The name means "top fruit", referring to the characteristic top-shaped (inverted cone) fruits.
Description
Turbinicarpus is a genus of very small, often cryptic cacti, many of which exhibit neotenic characteristics.
- Habit: Globose, flattened or slightly elongated; usually solitary, sometimes clustering.
- Ribs: Absent.
- Tubercles: Low, rounded to conical or deltoid.
- Areoles: Apical, often woolly; axils shallow.
- Spines: Few, flexible, often weak or absent.
- Flowers: Diurnal, funnel-shaped; white, cream, yellowish, pink to magenta; self-sterile.
- Fruits: Berry-like, top-shaped; dehiscence variable.
- Seeds: Black, tuberculate, with large hilum.
Habitat
Highly specialized and mimetic plants:
- limestone, gypsum, clay, granite, shale and humus soils
- rock crevices, slopes, hills and mountainous areas
- often partially buried and extremely difficult to detect in habitat
Altitude range: approximately 800–2600 m.
Distribution
Endemic to Mexico:
- Coahuila
- Guanajuato
- Hidalgo
- Nuevo León
- Querétaro
- San Luis Potosí
- Tamaulipas
- Zacatecas
Taxonomy
The genus has undergone extensive taxonomic instability.
Historically associated genera include: Gymnocactus, Rapicactus, Kadenicarpus, Normanbokea, Pseudosolisia and others.
Key points:
- Barthlott & Hunt (1993): supported separation from Neolloydia
- Butterworth et al. (2002): placed Turbinicarpus in the "AEPT" clade
- Crozier (2005): refined this to "ATES" (including Strombocactus)
- Hernández-Hernández et al. (2011): confirmed this lineage
- Vázquez-Sánchez et al. (2013): demonstrated that Turbinicarpus is polyphyletic
Three main lineages:
- Turbinicarpus s.s. (incl. type species T. schmiedickeanus)
- Rapicactus clade (segregated as separate genus)
- Bl clade (problematic group incl. T. horripilus, T. pseudomacrochele)
The genus is therefore treated as provisionally accepted.
Species
Following Joël Lodé (2015), with recognized species and subspecies.
- Turbinicarpus alonsoi
- Turbinicarpus bonatzii
- Turbinicarpus gielsdorfianus
- Turbinicarpus graminispinus
- Turbinicarpus hoferi
- Turbinicarpus horripilus
- Turbinicarpus jauernigii
- Turbinicarpus laui
- Turbinicarpus lophophoroides
- Turbinicarpus pseudomacrochele
- Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus
- Turbinicarpus saueri
- Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus
- Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus subsp. andersonii
- Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus subsp. dickisoniae
- Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus subsp. flaviflorus
- Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus subsp. gracilis
- Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus subsp. klinkerianus
- Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus subsp. macrochele
- Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus subsp. rioverdensis
- Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus subsp. rubriflorus
- Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus subsp. schwarzii
- Turbinicarpus swobodae
- Turbinicarpus valdezianus
- Turbinicarpus viereckii
Notes
- The genus shows extreme morphological variability.
- Neoteny is common — juvenile morphology persists in flowering plants.
- Natural hybrids occur (e.g. T. × mombergeri).
- Some taxa may eventually be reassigned as phylogeny is refined.
