Cacti of Eastern Brazil

About this book

Language: English with bilingual glossary in English and Portuguese

The Cacti of Eastern Brazil is a floristic monograph that has been 15 years in the making. The Cactus Family (Cactaceae) is an almost entirely New World group of unique plants. Within the Neotropics there are only a few key geographical centres of cactus diversity. The third of these in order of importance is that covered in this book as Eastern Brazil – that is all of Brazil’s North-eastern Region and much of the cactus-rich areas of South-eastern Brazil. In terms of cactus phytogeography Eastern Brazil appears to have been cut off from the habitats of other ‘terrestrial’ (as opposed to epiphytic) cacti by broad swathes of environments that the family avoids, namely the fire-swept cerrados (savannas) to the west and moist tropical forests to the north and south. This isolation probably explains the high percentage of endemic taxa, which include both genera and species, making the area a very discrete one for detailed study and of great importance for conservation.

The book covers the histories of both discovery and classification, phytogeography and palaeoclimates, conservation (some species being amongst the rarest in the family), identification and documentation. Identification aids in the form of dichotomous keys and coloured illustrations are provided for all named, accepted taxa, together with descriptions, ecological data, conservation assessments, full synonymy, bibliography, vernacular names, a glossary of specialised terms and documentation of geographical distribution and specimen data. The latter data have been used to create 51 full-colour distribution maps, which account for the known ranges of the 130 species and 32 heterotypic subspecies currently named and recognised. Introduced and naturalised cacti are also treated and illustrated.

This is the first comprehensive account of the family in the region to be published since the Flora Brasiliensis in 1890 and will be the standard work on Brazilian cacti for many years to come.

Contents

Preface by Prof. Dr Wilhelm Barthlott   xi
1. Introduction   1
      1.1 Significance of the area delimited as ‘Eastern Brazil’   1
      1.2 Background to the Cacti of Eastern Brazil project   2
      1.3 Study methods and taxonomic concepts   3
2. History of Discovery, Naming and Classification   13
      2.1 Problems of the ‘Hortus Siccus’   13
      2.2 Count Johan Maurits in North-eastern Brazil: 1637—1644    14
      2.3 19th Century collectors   14
      2.4 The golden age of cactus discovery: 1900-1950   15
      2.5 Modern collectors: post 1950   19
      2.6 Taxonomic history of the cacti from Eastern Brazil: 1890-1979   21
      2.7 Cactaceae systematics 1980—2003 and the IOS consensus initiatives   25
3. Phytogeography   35
      3.1 Overview   35
      3.2 Definition ofvegetation types   42
      3.3 Analysis of distribution patterns   45
      3.4 Phytogeographical links and palaeoclimates   63
      3.5 Reproductive and dispersal strategies   67
4. Conservation   139
      4.1 Why conserve the cacti of Eastern Brazil?   139
      4.2 Status of the environment and conservation of cacti in E Brazil   141
      4.3 Criteria for the identification of priority taxa   148
      4.4 Conservation ‘hot—spots’   155
      4.5 Priority actions recommended   156
5. Taxonomic Inventory   159
      5.1 Introductory notes   159
      5.2 Artificial key to genera   160
      5.3 Pereskioideae:
                  Pereskia   164
      5.4 Opuntioideae   173
            Cylindropuntieae:
                  Quiabentia   174
            Opuntieae
                  Tacinga   175
                  Brasiliopuntia   186
                  Nopalea   189
                  Opuntia   190
      5.5 Cactoideae   193
            Hylocereeae
                  Hylocereus   194
                  Selenicereus   198
                  Epiphyllum   198
            Echinocereeae:
                  Pseudoaacanthocereus   200
            Rhipsalideae
                  Lepismium   201
                  Rhipsalis   205
                  Hatiora   228
                  Schlumbegera   263
            Cereeae
                  Brasilicereus   266
                  Cereus   269
                  Cipocereus   282
                  Stephanocereus   290
                  Arrojadoa   293
                  Pilosocereus   303
                  Micranthocereus   347
                  Coleocephalocereus   356
                  Melocactus   366
            Trichocereeae
                  Harrisia   425
                  Leocereus   428
                  Facheiroa   429
                  Espostoopsis   434
                  Arthrocereus   436
                  Discocactus   441
                  Uebelmannia   451
6. Bibliography and Acknowledgements   457
      6.1 Literature cited or consulted   457
      6.2 Acknowledgements and photo credit codes   47
7. Glossary & Indexes   473
      7.1 Glossary of specialized botanical terms (Cactaceae)   473
          Glossário de termos botânicos (Cactaceae)   475
      7.2 Index to botanical names and epithets   477
      7.3 Index to vernacular names   489
      7.4 Appendices I & II   492

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