Cleistocactus hyalacanthus

Cleistocactus hyalacanthus
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Genus:	Cleistocactus
Species:	C. hyalacanthus
Binomial name
Cleistocactus hyalacanthus (K.Schum.) Rol.-Goss.
Synonyms
List Cleistocactus tarijensis Cárdenas Cereus hyalacanthus K.Schum., 1897 syn. sec. Kiesling & al. 2014 Cleistocactus hyalacanthus subsp. hyalacanthus syn. sec. Kiesling & al. 2014 Demnosa strausii var. luteispina Frič (2019) Pilocereus strausii var. fricii Dörfl. (2019) Cleistocactus strausii var. fricii (Dörfl.) Backeb.,(2019) Cleistocactus strausii var. jujuyensis Backeb. 1934 Cleistocactus jujuyensis (Backeb.) Backeb. 2014 Pilocereus jujuyensis (Backeb.) Anon. 2014 Cleistocactus hyalacanthus Backeb., V2019 Cleistocactus tarijensis Cárdenas 2014 Cleistocactus hyalacanthus subsp. tarijensis (Cárdenas) Mottram 2014 Cleistocactus compactus Backeb. 1957 ["1956"] syn. sec. Kiesling & al. 2014 Cleistocactus jujuyensis var. fulvus F.Ritter, 1980 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019) Echinopsis nothohyalacantha Anceschi & Magli 2013 syn. sec. Kiesling & al. 2014

Cleistocactus hyalacanthus is a species of columnar cacti in the genus Cleistocactus. The name comes from the Greek kleistos meaning closed because the flowers hardly open.

Description

Cleistocactus hyalacanthus grows as a shrub with erect shoots that branch out from the base and reach heights of up to 1 meter with a diameter of 4 to 6 centimeters with about 20 ribs. The approximately 3 central spines are brown to yellowish and up to 3 centimeters long. The 20 to 30 unequal fine radial spines are bristly and whitish. Flowers sprout from the center of needle clusters. They first appear as small dark spots, which gradually enlarge over a week or ten days into purple-pink flowers are 3.5 to 4 centimeters long, each of which is only open, and only slightly, for one day. Their bracts are spread out. They are food for hummingbirds, which are attracted by the vivid red color. Those flowers that have been fertilized will develop a fruit. The spherical fruits are light greenish to brick-red fruits reach a diameter of about 1 centimeter and contain white flesh. The fruits eventually turn yellow when they are ripe. They are food for larger birds, which disperse the small black seeds in their droppings.

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  Plant
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  Spines
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  single Flower
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  Blooming
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  Crested Plant

Description

Cleistocactus hyalacanthus is distributed in the Argentinian provinces of Salta and Jujuy at altitudes of 1500 to 3500 meters and possibly in southern Bolivia.

Taxonomy

This species was first described as Cereus hyalacanthus was made in 1897 by Karl Moritz Schumann. Robert Roland-Gosselin placed the species in the genus Cleistocactus in 1904.

In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the species is listed as "Least Concern (LC)".

External links

• Media related to Cleistocactus hyalacanthus at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Cleistocactus hyalacanthus at Wikispecies