Rhipsalis

Rhipsalis
	Flowering
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Tribe:	Rhipsalideae
Genus:	Rhipsalis; Gaertn.
Species
	Numerous, see text
Synonyms
	Erythrorhipsalis A.Berger;

Rhipsalis is a genus of epiphytic flowering plants in the cactus family, typically known as mistletoe cacti. They are found in parts of Central America, the Caribbean and northern regions of South America. They also inhabit isolated locations in Africa and Asia, and are the only cactus group naturally occurring in the Old World. This is the largest and most widely distributed genus of epiphytic cacti^[1] (those which live on other plants without damaging them).

The scientific name Rhipsalis derives from the Ancient Greek term for wickerwork,^[2]^[3] referring to the plants' morphology.

History[]

The genus was described by Joseph Gaertner in 1788.^[4] But when he described the plant, he had in fact not realised it was a cactus. Instead, he assumed he had found a new species of Cassytha,^{[Note 1]} a parasitic laurel from a completely different plant family.

Ecology and distribution[]

Rhipsalis is found as pendulous epiphyte in tropical rainforests, some species may also grow epilithic or, rarely, terrestrial.^[5]^[6]^[7] The genus is found widely in Central America, parts of the Caribbean and a great part of northern and central South America.^[2] The center of diversity of Rhipsalis lies in the rainforests of the Mata Atlantica in southeastern Brazil.^[6] It is found throughout the New World, and additionally in tropical Africa, Madagascar and Sri Lanka.^[8]^[7] It is the only cactus with a natural occurrence outside the New World.^[9]

Rhipsalis pilocarpa fruit

Morphology[]

The morphology of Rhipsalis is very variable. The plants can grow mostly pendent, few grow more or less upright or sprawling. There are three main stem shapes: terete, angular and flattened. The stems are succulent, but the degree of succulence varies between the species. Some have very thick stems (e.g. ), whereas other have very thin, filiform stems (e.g. Rhipsalis baccifera, ). In the majority of species, spines are missing or occur only in the juvenile stage (this is most prominent in ). Rhipsalis pilocarpa has stems and fruits densely covered by bristles, making this species easily distinguishable from all other Rhipsalis. The flowers are borne lateral or apical and are actinomorphic with a varying number of perianth segments, stamens and carpels. They are small, usually about 1 cm in diameter, white or whitish in most species. Yellowish flowers occur in R. dissimilis and R. elliptica and R. hoelleri is the only Rhipsalis species with red flowers. The fruits are always berries, they are whitish or coloured pink, red or yellow. Vivipary has been observed in R. micrantha and R. baccifera.^[10]

Species[]

In the taxonomic treatment in The New Cactus Lexicon, 35 species were accepted, divided into five subgenera (Phyllarthrorhipsalis, Rhipsalis, Epallagogonium, Calamorhipsalis, Erythrorhipsalis).^[11] A molecular study in 2011 showed the paraphyly of three subgenera as previously circumscribed (Rhipsalis, Calamorhipsalis and Epallagogonium).^[7] So a new subgeneric classification of Rhipsalis with only monophyletic subgenera Rhipsalis, Calamorhipsalis and Erythrorhipsalis was proposed.^[1] Species accepted by Plants of the World Online as of March 2021 are listed below,^[12] with subgeneric placements, where given, based on Calvente (2012).^[1]

hideSubgenus	Scientific name	Distribution
Calamorhipsalis	(G.Lindb.) K.Schum.	Brazil (Parana, São Paulo)
	Rhipsalis floccosa Salm-Dyck ex Pfeiff.	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela
	Rhipsalis hoelleri Barthlott & N.P.Taylor	Brazil(Espirito Santo)
	K.Schum.	Brazil (Parana, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, São Paulo)
	Rhipsalis pacheco-leonis Loefgr.	Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
	Rhipsalis paradoxa (Salm-Dyck ex Pfeiff.) Salm-Dyck	Brazil( Bahia, Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, Parana, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, São Paulo)
		Brazil (Parana, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, São Paulo)
	Pfeiff.	Brazil (Parana, Santa Catarina, São Paulo)
Erythrorhipsalis	M.F.Freitas & J.M.A.Braga	Brazil (Rio de ]aneiro)
		Brazil
	Loefgr.	Brazil
	F.A.C.Weber	Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo)
	Haw.	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay
	Barthlott & N.P.Taylor	Brazil (São Paulo)
	N.P.Taylor & Zappi	Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
	Rhipsalis pilocarpa Loefgr.	Brazil (Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, Parana, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo)
	Loefgr.	Brazil (Minas Gerais, Parana, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo)
Rhipsalis	N.P.Taylor	Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul )
	Rhipsalis baccifera	Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion, Sri Lanka
	Rhipsalis cereoides (Backeb. & Voll) Backeb.	Brazil
	Rhipsalis crispata (Haw.) Pfeiff.	Brazil (Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo)
		Bolivia
	Rhipsalis elliptica . ex K.Schum.	Brazil(Minas Gerais, Parana, Santa Catarina, São Paulo)
	Barthlott & N.P.Taylor	Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
	Backeb.	Bolivia
	Haw.	Brazil ( Parana, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, São Paulo)
	(N.P.Taylor & Barthlott) N.Korotkova & Barthlott
	K.Schum.	Brazil (Bahia, Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Sergipe)
	Rhipsalis mesembryanthemoides Haw.	Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
	(Kunth) DC.	Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
	Rhipsalis oblonga Loefgr., syn. Rhipsalis crispimarginata	Brazil (Bahia, Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo )
	N.P.Taylor & Zappi	Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
	Barthlott & Rauh	Ecuador, Peru, Suriname
	Pfeiff.	Brazil (Parana, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo )
	Pfeiff. ex A.Dietr.	Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
	Rhipsalis russellii Britton & Rose	Brazil (Bahia, Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais)
	Rhipsalis sulcata F.A.C.Weber	Brazil (Espirito Santo)
	(Vell.) Steud.	Brazil
	Werderm.	Brazil ( Rio de Janeiro)
Unknown	Ralf Bauer & N.Korotkova
	N.P.Taylor & Zappi
	F.Ritter
	Britton & Rose

Notes[]

^ The original spelling in publication is cassutha, but this is presumably a typographical error.

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Calvente, A. (2012), "A New Subgeneric Classification of Rhipsalis (Cactoideae, Cactaceae)", Systematic Botany, 37 (4): 983–988, doi:10.1600/036364412X656455, S2CID 84206266
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Anderson (2001), p. 612
^ "Rhipsalis". Oxford Dictionaries UK Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
^ Gaertner, Joseph (1788), "Rhipsalis", Fruct. Sem. Pl., i: 137, doi:10.5962/bhl.title.53838
^ Anderson (2001), pp. 22–24
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Korotkova, Nadja (2011), Phylogeny and evolution of the epiphytic Rhipsalideae (Cactaceae) (PDF) (PhD thesis), Bonn
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Calvente, A.; Zappi, D.C.; Forest, F.; Lohmann, L.G. (2011), "Molecular Phylogeny, Evolution, and Biogeography of South American Epiphytic Cacti", International Journal of Plant Sciences, 172 (7): 902–914, doi:10.1086/660881
^ Barthlott, Wilhelm (1983), "Biogeography and Evolution in Neo- and Paleotropical Rhipsalinae (Cactaceae)", Sonderb. Naturwiss. Vereins Hamburg, 7: 241–248
^ Anderson (2001), p. 18
^ Cota-Sánchez, J. Hugo (2004), "Vivipary in the Cactaceae: Its taxonomic occurrence and biological significance", Flora, 199 (6): 481–490, doi:10.1078/0367-2530-00175
^ Hunt (2006), pp. 253–257
^ "Rhipsalis Gaertn". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2021-03-13.

Literature[]

Anderson, Edward F. (2001), The Cactus Family, Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, ISBN 0-88192-498-9
Hunt, D.R., ed. (2006), The New Cactus Lexicon Text, Milborne Port: dh books, ISBN 0-9538134-5-2
Barthlott, W.; Taylor, N.P. (1995), "Notes towards a Monograph of Rhipsalideae (Cactaceae)", Bradleya, 13 (13): 43–79, doi:10.25223/brad.n13.1995.a7, S2CID 89883634

Media related to Rhipsalis at Wikimedia Commons

[5] The original spelling in publication is cassutha, but this is presumably a typographical error.

[Calvente2012-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Calvente, A. (2012), "A New Subgeneric Classification of Rhipsalis (Cactoideae, Cactaceae)", Systematic Botany, 37 (4): 983–988, doi:10.1600/036364412X656455, S2CID 84206266

[harvp|Anderson|2001|p=612-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b Anderson (2001), p. 612

[3] "Rhipsalis". Oxford Dictionaries UK Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2019-01-10.

[4] Gaertner, Joseph (1788), "Rhipsalis", Fruct. Sem. Pl., i: 137, doi:10.5962/bhl.title.53838

[6] Anderson (2001), pp. 22–24

[Korotkova2011-7] Jump up to: ^a ^b Korotkova, Nadja (2011), Phylogeny and evolution of the epiphytic Rhipsalideae (Cactaceae) (PDF) (PhD thesis), Bonn

[Calvente2011-8] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Calvente, A.; Zappi, D.C.; Forest, F.; Lohmann, L.G. (2011), "Molecular Phylogeny, Evolution, and Biogeography of South American Epiphytic Cacti", International Journal of Plant Sciences, 172 (7): 902–914, doi:10.1086/660881

[9] Barthlott, Wilhelm (1983), "Biogeography and Evolution in Neo- and Paleotropical Rhipsalinae (Cactaceae)", Sonderb. Naturwiss. Vereins Hamburg, 7: 241–248

[10] Anderson (2001), p. 18

[11] Cota-Sánchez, J. Hugo (2004), "Vivipary in the Cactaceae: Its taxonomic occurrence and biological significance", Flora, 199 (6): 481–490, doi:10.1078/0367-2530-00175

[12] Hunt (2006), pp. 253–257

[POWO_331903-2-13] "Rhipsalis Gaertn". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2021-03-13.

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