Santa cruz beehive cactus (Coryphantha recurvata)
Description
Coryphantha recurvata is a species in the genus Coryphantha of the cactus family(Cactaceae). The specific epithet recurvata comes from the Latin , means 'bent back' and refers to the arrangement of the thorns. English trivial names are "Golden-Chested Beehive Cactus", "Recurved Cory-Cactus" and "Recurved-Spine Pincushion". Coryphantha recurvata often forms groups consisting of up to 50 shoots. The spherical to short cylindrical, greenish blue shoots reach in diameters of 7 to 15 centimeters growth heights of 10 to 20 centimeters. The shoots are often obscured by the dense Bedornung. There are pile or fiber roots formed. The up to 10 millimeters long cylindrical to conical warts are rhomboid at their base. The axillae are bald. The one to rarely two middle spinesthat may be missing are yellow at first, later turn gray and have a reddish tip. They are bent down to sparsely, little flattened and 1.2 to 1.7 inches long. The 17 to 20 comb-shaped, flattened, curved in a low arch edge thorns interlock. They are yellow are gray, have a darker tip and are up to 1.2 inches long. The yellow flowers have a darker central stripe and reach lengths of 2.5 to 3.5 centimeters. The fruits are green. Coryphantha recurvata is distributed in the United States in the state of Arizona and the Mexican states of Sonora and Durango . The first description as Mammillaria recurvispina by George Engelmann was published in 1856. The name, however, under Article 53.1 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature invalid because before him Willem Hendrik de Briese had in 1839 named a kind way. When Engelmann learned about it, he changed the name of the species to Mammillaria recurvata. Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose presented the type 1923 in the genus Coryphantha.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Caryophyllales
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Family: Cactaceae
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Genus: Coryphantha
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