Salmonopuntia schickendantzii Font & M. Kohler 2021, comb.nov.
Creators: name: Köhler, Matias
name: Font, Fabián
name: Puente-Martinez, Raul
name: Majure, Lucas C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Caryophyllales
Cactaceae
Salmonopuntia
Salmonopuntia schickendantzii

description: Salmonopuntia schickendantzii (F.A.C.Weber)Font&M.Köhler, comb.nov.
Bas. Opuntia schickendantzii F.A.C.Weber (1898: 898)
≡ Mortolopuntia schickendantzii (F.A.C.Weber) Guiggi (2015: 1)
≡ Brasiliopuntia schickendantzii (F.A.C.Weber) R.Puente & Majure (2014: 25)
≡ Austrocylindropuntia schickendantzii (F.A.C.Weber) Backeb. (1951: 14)
≡ Cylindropuntia schickendantzii (F.A.C.Weber) Backeb. (1936: 122)
≡ Salmiopuntia schickendantzii (F. A. C. Weber) Kreuz. (1935: 41), nom. inval.
Neotype (designated by Guiggi 2015):—Ex cult hort. Mortolensi, 11 June 1905, Berger s.n. (HMGBH, fl., image!)
Epitype (designated here):— ARGENTINA. Salta, Depto. Guachipas, Cuesta el Lajar, 25˚40’33.4”S 65˚29’43.8”W, 16 March 2010, Font 660 (BAF13598!) [FF 838 in cult.].
= Opuntia cochabambensis Card. (1953: 20)
= Platyopuntia conjungens F. Ritter (1980b: 494) ≡ Opuntia conjungens (F.Ritter) P.J.Braun & Esteves (1995: 133)
Description: — Shrub, small to large, 0.5–1.0(–1.5) m tall, erect. Stems dimorphic, the primary terete, up to 5 cm in diam., lignified, indefinite growth narrowing towards the apex; secondary stems flattened, asymmetric ascending, oblanceolate to spathulate, 10–20 × 2–5 cm. Epidermis ashen green, glaucous. Areoles densely present on the primary stem, 1–2 cm distance between each other in diagonal; eventually subtuberculated on the secondary stems, gray to yellowish glochids. Spines setiform to acicular, radial, white-gray; conspicuous on the primary stem, 0–3(–5), 0.5–3.0 cm long; inconspicuous on the secondary stems, 0–3, 0.5–3.0 cm long. Leaves green, conic to subulates, 3–6 mm long, deciduous, not appressed, ascending. Pericarpel globose, rarely obovoid to obpyriform, 1.0–1.5(–2.0) cm in diameter. Flower bud apex acute, shades of red (claret to scarlet); inner tepals obovate to oblanceolate, bright yellow; flower at anthesis 2–3(–4) cm in diameter. Stamens numerous, pale yellow filaments and anthers. Stigma 5–6 lobed, connivent, emerald to dark green; style white. Fruit globose, 1.5–2.5 cm in diameter, indehiscent, dark purple to reddish when ripe, inner pericarpel green; glochids profusely developed, areoles 2 mm in diam. without propagules; generally fertile, up to 60–70 seeds per fruit; presence of immature, green, or sterile fruits functioning as clonal propagules just on the ground. Seeds elliptic to obovate, slightly curved, brownish, glabrous, 3–5 × 3 mm.
Distribution and habitat: — Argentina (Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán) and Bolivia (Cochabamba, Chuquisaca, Tarija). It grows between 1000–2000 m a.s.l.; orophilic, generally growing on cliffs and hillsides, rarely seen on flat terrain.
Specimens examined:— ARGENTINA. Catamarca: Depto. Ambato, Singuil, 1200 m, 2 December1951, Vervoorst 3505 (LIL). Jujuy: Depto. Valle Grande, Pueblo (Lomadas), 15 November 1958, Villa & Legname 766 (LIL). Ibid. 17 November 1958, Villa & Legname 767 (LIL); Depto. Santa Bárbara, El Fuerte, 22 November 1970, Cabrera & Fabris 21095 (LP). Salta: Depto. Chicoana, Quebrada de Escoipe, February 1972, Kiesling 136 (LP). Depto. Guachipas, 10 km antes de Casa de Arcos, 23 November 2017, Font 740 (BAF). Cuesta El Lajar, 16 March 2010, Font 660 (BAF). Depto. La Candelaria, Unquillo, 1200 m, November 1931; Schreiter 6730 (LIL). Tucumán: Depto. Tafí, La Hoyada, 1750 m; 11 December 1924, Venturi 3559 (LIL, GH, NY). La Hoyada 1500 m, 17 December 1923, Venturi s.n. (LIL 66441); Quebrada de La Hoyada, October 1930, Schreiter 2367 (LIL). La Hoyada, 1460 m, November 1932, Schreiter 8765 (LIL). BOLIVIA. Cochabamba: December 1949, Cárdenas 2549 (LIL 531554).
Notes: — Guiggi (2015) designated a neotype based on a sheet with a flower section preserved at the HMGBH from cultivated material at La Mortola. Considering that the neotype is not complete, we here designate an epitype showing complete morphological features necessary for the precise identification and designation of the name of the species.
description: Published as part of Köhler, Matias, Font, Fabián, Puente-Martinez, Raul & Majure, Lucas C., 2021, " That's Opuntia, that was! ", again: a new combination for an old and enigmatic Opuntia s. l. (Cactaceae), pp. 262-274 in Phytotaxa 505 (3) on page 267, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.505.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/5425461