Kingdom Plantae Family Cactaceae Scientific name Melocactus Rank Genus | Order Caryophyllales Subfamily Cactoideae Higher classification Cereeae | |
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Lower classifications Melocactus matanzanus, Melocactus zehntneri, Melocactus azureus, Buche, Melocactus conoideus | ||
My melocactus wearing a crown of winter fruit berries
Melocactus (melon cactus), also known as the Turk's cap cactus, is a genus of cactus with about 30-40 species. They are native to the Caribbean, western Mexico through Central America to northern South America, with some species along the Andes down to southern Peru, and a concentration of species in northeastern Brazil.
Contents
- My melocactus wearing a crown of winter fruit berries
- New cacti purchases melocactus trichocereus grandifloria mammalaria
- References
The first species was named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, as Cactus melocactus. When the genus was separated from Cactus, the pre-Linnaean name Melocactus was used. Acting on the principle of priority, in 1922 Nathaniel Britton and Joseph Rose resurrected Linnaeus' Cactus. However, the 1905 Vienna botanical congress had already rejected the name Cactus, so this name was not available, and Melocactus Link & Otto is the correct genus name.
Mature plants are easily recognizable by their cephalium, a wool- and bristle-coated structure at the apex of the plant, containing a mass of areoles from which the small flowers grow.
Since the red, wool-coated cephalium of the plant is similar to the Fez hat of the Turkish male citizens during late Ottoman Empire, one name for the plant is Turk's cap cactus.
