Ariocarpus

Scheidweiler

Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci. Bruxelles 5: 491, figs. 1–5. 1838.

Etymology: The genus Aria and Greek karpos, fruit, referring to the Aria -like fruit
Synonyms: Neogomesia Castañeda Roseocactus A. Berger
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Mentioned on page 96, 212, 221, 238.
 TaxonIllustrator 
FNA4 P39 Neolloydia conoidea var conoidea.jpegNeolloydia conoidea var. conoidea
Epithelantha micromeris var. micromeris
Ariocarpus fissuratus var. fissuratus
John Myers
John Myers
John Myers

Plants erect, unbranched [or branched], deep-seated in the substrate [or somewhat subterranean for whole seasons]. Roots taproots. Stem unsegmented, gray-green (yellow-green or purplish with age or stress), aboveground portion flat, concave, or weakly hemispheric, usually flush with soil surface and cryptic, strongly tuberculate, 0–2 (–10) × [3–] 5–10 (–15) cm, hard, rigid, tough skinned [thin skinned in A. agavoides of Mexico]; tubercles arranged in rosettes or mosaics, ± triangular, 8–20 [–60] × [3–] 11–25 mm, hard, exposed faces of tubercles strongly differentiated from sides [except in some Mexican species], prominently fissured [wrinkled, roughened, or nearly smooth]; areoles elongate [circular and axillary, circular and subapical, or 2-parted], forming a wide woolly groove on each tubercle; areolar glands absent; cortex and pith not mucilaginous, “mucilage” restricted to elongate cavities. Spines absent [sporadic and rudimentary in some Mexican taxa]. Flowers diurnal, borne in axils of tubercles near stem apex, broadly funnelform to almost salverform, 1.5–5 × 1.5–5 cm; outer tepals brownish or greenish with pink tinge, 12–35 × 5–9 mm, margins entire; inner tepals pink or magenta [white or yellow], 13–34 × 4–10 mm, margins entire; ovary smooth (scales, hairs, and spines absent); stigma lobes 5–10, white, 1.2–5 mm. Fruits indehiscent (very rarely explosively dehiscent), white or cream to pale greenish [reddish], spheric to clavate or cylindric, proximally or almost completely buried in copious wool of stem apex, 10–25 × 5–10 mm, initially fleshy, drying and collapsing a few days after ripening, scales and spines absent; pulp white to pale greenish; floral remnant apparently persistent. Seeds black, spheric to obovoid, 1.2–1.6 (–2.5) mm, minutely tuberculate, shiny; testa cells strongly convex (conspicuous with lens). x = 11.

Distribution

Arid regions, sw United States, Mexico

Discussion

Species 6 (1 in the flora).

Ariocarpus species mostly grow in broken rock substrate and closely mimic it. Some Mexican species display additional adaptations, e.g., A. kotschoubeyanus (K. Schumann) K. Schumann withdraws into seasonally inundated, fine lacustrine soil and can be completely buried between growing seasons.

... more about "Ariocarpus"
cushionlike +
circular to linear +
deciduous +  and persistent +
elongate +
Allan D. Zimmerman +  and Bruce D. Parfitt +
Scheidweiler +
hardened +
triangular +
elongate +
proliferating +
flattened +  and cylindric +
not mucilaginous +
Arid regions +, sw United States +  and Mexico +
not separating +
The genus Aria and Greek karpos, fruit, referring to the Aria -like fruit +
fissured +
differentiated +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
salverform +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
cream;pale greenish +
indehiscent +
persistent +, long +  and deciduous +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
spheric +  and clavate or cylindric +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
1.3 cm13 mm <br />0.013 m <br /> (3.4 cm34 mm <br />0.034 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
rudimentary +
flat +  and terete +
nearly +  and microscopic +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
tuberculate +
fluted;spheric;depressed-spheric or club-shaped +
1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br /> (3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
not mucilaginous +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br />) +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
aboveground +
cryptic +  and flush +
tuberculate +
hemispheric +, concave +  and flat +
rigid +  and hard +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br />) +
ridgelike +  and nipple--shaped +
Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci. Bruxelles +
white +  and pale greenish +
anderson1965a +  and anderson1997a +
3;2;2;30 +
triangular +
arillate +  and strophiolate +
0.16 cm1.6 mm <br />0.0016 m <br /> (0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br />) +
0.4mm;12mm +
tuberculate +
spheric;obovoid +
0.12 cm1.2 mm <br />0.0012 m <br /> (0.16 cm1.6 mm <br />0.0016 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
0 (?) +  and 90 (?) +
annulate-ridged +, hairlike +, daggerlike +, subulate +  and acicular +
hard +  and rigid +
decurrent +
unsegmented +
gray-green +
segmented +
succulent +
0.12 cm1.2 mm <br />0.0012 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
tuberculate +
Neogomesia +  and Roseocactus +
adventitious +
tuberlike +
epipetric +  and epiphytic +
Ariocarpus +
Cactaceae subfam. Cactoideae +
dull +  and glossy +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (1.1 cm11 mm <br />0.011 m <br />) +
8mm +  and 20mm +
triangular +
11mm +  and 25mm +
epiphytic;epiphytic;epiphytic +
barrel-shaped +  and spheric +