2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Rhipsalis (lat. Rhipsalis) - a genus of epiphytic cacti belonging to the tribe Rhipsalideae (Latin Rhipsalideae), included by botanists in the subfamily Cactus (Latin Cactoideae) from the family of the same name Cactaceae (Latin Cactaceae). Such a plant has a long pedigree, like a Muslim's name, which includes four generations, in order to better remember their roots in life. Plants of the genus Rhipsalis are amazing creatures of the plant world. Not only are they epiphytes, that is, they do without soil, but they need a plant neighbor on which they can "lean" without parasitizing on its tissues, so the Almighty also deprived them of leaves, leaving only the stems at the disposal of the plant.
What's in your name
The Latin official name of the genus, "Rhipsalis", is based on an ancient Greek expression that can be translated by the word "weaving" associated with the appearance of the plants of the genus. It is the largest genus combining widespread types of epiphytic cacti in its ranks.
The genus was first described by the German botanist Joseph Gartner in 1788. But Gartner, describing a new plant, suggested that a new species of parasitic plant "Cassytha" (Cassita) from the Laurel family had been found. Therefore, in the literature you can find information that classifies the name "Cassytha" as a synonym for the name of the genus "Rhipsalis". Which is fundamentally wrong, since Rhipsalis is, firstly, a cactus, not a laurel, and, secondly, an epiphyte, and not a parasitic plant. That is, it uses other plants only as a support, without drawing nutrients from them, which is what parasitic plants do.
Description
The shape and structure of different species of the genus Ripsalis is very diverse and changeable.
Few species grow more or less vertically with erect, succulent stems. More often, thin stems hang like a green waterfall from tree branches, casting fabulous pictures, or spread over supports that have turned up on the way.
There are three main forms of stems of plants of the genus Ripsalis: with a round cross-section, angular-geniculate and flattened. The succulent stems characteristic of succulent plants has a different degree in different plant species of the genus. Species such as "Rhipsalis clavata" ("Rhipsalis spiked") and "Rhipsalis baccifera" ("Rhipsalis berry" - shown in the main photo) have threadlike, thin stems, while the stems of the species "Rhipsalis neves-armondii" very thick.
Although, in the minds of many people, the Cactus plant is necessarily a very prickly creature of nature, the plants of the Rhipsalis genus refute this usual opinion. In most species of this genus, thorns are absent, or are found only at early stages of development, which is clearly demonstrated by the species "Rhipsalis dissimilis". Is that the species "Rhipsalis pilocarpa" ("Rhipsalis hairy") stands aside from the general row of plants of the genus, having stems and fruits, densely covered with prickly bristles. The photo below shows the blooming "Hairy Ripsalis":
The flowers of plants of the genus Rhipsalis can be lateral or apical, with a different number of flower petals, stamens and carpels. The structure of the flowers is correct (actinomorphic), that is, more than one vertical plane of symmetry can be drawn through the center of the flower. As a rule, the size of the flower is small, not more than one centimeter in diameter. The predominant color of the petals is white or whitish. But there are species with yellowish or red flowers. One of the rare species with red flowers, "Rhipsalis hoelleri", pictured below:
The fruit of any type of Rhipsalis is a berry, the color of which can be different: whitish, pink, yellow or red.
Ripsalis area
Like other Cacti, Rhipsalis is a representative of the American tropics. But, unlike other representatives of the Cactus family, which naturally grow only in America, and throughout the rest of the world they are planted by humans, species of the genus Rhipsalis are found in the wild and outside the New World, namely, in the tropics of Africa, on the island Madagascar and Sri Lanka.
In our country, where there are frosts in winter, Ripsalis is grown as a greenhouse or indoor plant.
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Ripsalis Pubescent
Ripsalis pubescent also known as pilocarp ripsalis. In Latin, the name of this plant will sound like this: Rhipsalis pilocarpa or Erythrorhipsalis pilocarpa. Ripsalis pubescent is one of the plants of the family called cactaceae, in Latin the name of this family will be like this:
Ripsalis Cereus
Ripsalis cereus It is also known as ripsalis cerescule. In Latin, the name of this plant will sound like this: Rhipsalis cereuscula. Rhipsalis cereus is one of the plants of the family called cactaceae, in Latin the name of this family will be like this:
