Schlumbergera kautskyi
| Schlumbergera kautskyi | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Core eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cactoideae |
| Tribe: | Rhipsalideae |
| Genus: | Schlumbergera |
| Species: | S. kautskyi |
| Binomial name | |
|
Schlumbergera kautskyi (Horobin & McMillan) N.P.Taylor |
|
Schlumbergera kautskyi is a species of plant in the Cactaceae family. It is endemic to a small area of the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil where its natural habitat is rocky areas. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is in the same genus as the popular houseplant known as Christmas Cactus or Thanksgiving Cactus.
Schlumbergera kautskyi resembles other species of the genus Schlumbergera in that it has leafless green stems which act as photosynthetic organs. The stems (cladodes) are composed of strongly flattened segments, which have "teeth" of varying shapes along their edges and at the ends, which are "cut off" (truncated) rather than pointed. Individual segments, which are very variable, are usually 2.2–3.5 cm (0.9–1.4 in) long by 1.4–1.8 cm (0.6–0.7 in) wide (although lengths of up to 4 cm (1.6 in) and widths up to 2.5 cm (1.0 in) are known).
Special structures characteristic of cacti, called "areoles", occur at the end of the segments. The areoles, which have brown wool and short bristles, are where the flower buds appear. The flowers are usually held slightly above the horizontal with the higher side different from the lower side (zygomorphic, specifically bilaterally symmetrical). They are purple in colour, about 5 cm (2.0 in) long by 2.7 cm (1.1 in) across.
When ripe, the four-angled fruit is yellow-green with red tones, about 2.5 cm (1.0 in) long by 1.9 cm (0.7 in) wide, and contains about 150 dark brown or black seeds, each about with a diameter of about 1 mm (0.04 in).
S. kautskyi was the last species of the genus Schlumbergera to be given a scientific name. In 1991, Horobin and McMillan described it as a subspecies of S. truncata, S. truncata ssp. kautsky; in the same year N.P. Taylor raised it to a full species. The specific epithet relates to the collector whose surname was Kautsky.
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