Neobuxbaumia macrocephala

Neobuxbaumia macrocephala
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Tribe:	Pachycereeae
Genus:	Neobuxbaumia Backeb.
Species:	N. macrocephala
Binomial name
Neobuxbaumia macrocephala (F.A.C.Weber ex K.Schum.) E.Y.Dawson
Synonyms
Cephalocereus macrocephalus F.A.C.Weber ex K.Schum.

Neobuxbaumia macrocephala (F.A.C. Weber ex K. Schum.) E.Y. Dawson,is a is a long-lived columnar cactus

Distribution

It is endemic to the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley in central Mexico. Within this region the species may be found on calcareous soil in xerophitic shrublands and tropical dry forest at an altitude of 1700 m above sea level.

Description

It is a branched columnar cactus that reaches between 7 and 15 m in height. The number of branches in an adult plant may vary from one to 10. Plants bear a reddish cephalium at the tip of each branch from which purple-red flowers emerge between May and June, during the end of the dry season. The species is hermaphroditic and its flowers are mainly nocturnal, opening at sunset (1900 h) and closing in the morning (1000 h).The bats Choeronycteris mexicana Tschudi, Leptonycteris curasoae Miller, and Leptonycteris nivalis (Saussure) are the main pollinators that promote seed production. Fruits ripen from June to August and are consumed by bats and bird species that probably act as seed dispersers. Neobuxbaumia macrocephala occurs at densities between 130 and 200 individuals/ha. Seed germination and seedling establishment occurs mostly beneath the canopies of several species of trees and shrubs, such as Pseudosmodingium multifolium Rose, Lippia graveolens Knuth, Gochnatia hypoleuca (DC.) A. Gray, and Aeschynomene compacta Rose. First reproduction occurs when plants are around 2 m tall.

Conservation status

CITES Appendix II - Trade controlled to avoid use incompatible with species survival.

Synonims

Carnegiea macrocephala (F.A.C. Weber ex K. Schum.) P.V. Heath Calyx 2(3): 109. 1992. (Calyx)
Cereus macrocephalus (F.A.C. Weber ex K. Schum.) A. Berger Annual Report of the Missouri Botanical Garden 16: 62. 1905. (Rep. (Annual) Missouri Bot. Gard.)
Cereus melocactus (F.A.C. Weber ex K. Schum.) A. Berger Annual Report of the Missouri Botanical Garden 16: 62. 1905. (Rep. (Annual) Missouri Bot. Gard.)

References

Godínez-Alvarez, H., and A. Valiente-Banuet. 2004. Demography of the columnar cactus Neobuxbaumia macrocephala: a comparative approach using population projection matrices. Plant Ecology 174: 109-118.

Esparza-Olguín, L., T. Valverde, and E. Vilchis-Anaya. 2002. Demographic analysis of a rare columnar cactus (Neobuxbaumia macrocephala) in the Tehuacán Valley, México. Biological Conservation 103: 349-359.

External links

• Info at tropicos.org