Soehrensia candicans

Soehrensia candicans
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Genus:	Soehrensia
Species:	S. candicans
Binomial name
Soehrensia candicans (Gillies ex Salm-Dyck) F.A.C.Weber ex D.R.Hunt 1987
Synonyms
List Cereus candicansGillies ex Salm-Dyck 1834 Echinocereus candicans(Gillies ex Salm-Dyck) Haage 1861 Echinopsis candicans(Gillies ex Salm-Dyck) D.R.Hunt 1987 Trichocereus candicans(Gillies ex Salm-Dyck) Britton & Rose 1920 Cereus candicans var. courantiiK.Schum. 1897 Cereus candicans f. courantii(K.Schum.) Schelle 1907 Cereus candicans var. dumesnilianusZeiss. 1893 Cereus candicans f. gladiatus(Lem.) Schelle 1907 Cereus candicans var. gladiatus(Lem.) K.Schum. 1897 Cereus candicans var. robustiorSalm-Dyck 1850 Cereus candicans f. robustior(Salm-Dyck) Schelle 1907 Cereus candicans var. spinosiorSalm-Dyck ex Walp. 1843 Cereus candicans var. tenuispinusPfeiff. 1837 Cereus gladiatusLem. 1838 Cereus gladiatus var. courantiiC.F.Först. 1885 Cereus gladiatus var. vernaculatusMonv. ex Labour. 1853 Cereus lamprochlorusLem. 1838 Cereus lamprochlorus var. salinicolaSpeg. 1902 Cereus montezumaePfeiff. 1837 Cereus nitensSalm-Dyck ex Otto & Dietr. 1845 Echinocactus candicansPfeiff. 1837 Echinocactus vangaertiiC.F.Först. 1846 Echinocereus candicans var. tenuispinusH.Pfeiff. ex Rümpler 1885 Echinocereus gladiatus(Lem.) Haage 1859 Echinocereus lamprochlorus(Lem.) Engelm. ex Haage 1859 Echinopsis candicans var. gladiata(Lem.) H.Friedrich & G.D.Rowley 1974 Echinopsis candicans var. tenuispina(Pfeiff.) H.Friedrich & G.D.Rowley 1974 Echinopsis courantii(K.Schum.) H.Friedrich & G.D.Rowley 1974 Echinopsis lamprochlora(Lem.) H.Friedrich & Glaetzle 1983 Echinopsis pseudocandicans(R.Kiesling) H.Friedrich & Glaetzle 1983 Echinopsis purpureopilosa(Weing.) H.Friedrich & G.D.Rowley 1974 Helianthocereus pseudocandicansBackeb. 1966 Helianthocereus pseudocandicans var. flaviflorusBackeb. 1966 Helianthocereus pseudocandicans var. roseiflorus(Backeb.) Backeb. 1966 Trichocereus candicans var. gladiatus(Lem.) Y.Itô 1981 Trichocereus candicans var. nitens(Salm-Dyck ex Otto & Dietr.) F.Ritter 1980 Trichocereus candicans subsp. pseudocandicansLodé 2013 publ. 2012 Trichocereus candicans var. roseiflorusBackeb. 1963 Trichocereus candicans f. rubriflorusF.Ritter 1980 Trichocereus candicans var. tenuispinus(Pfeiff.) Backeb. 1954 Trichocereus courantii(K.Schum.) Backeb. i1954 Trichocereus gladiatusFrič in Möller's 1932 Trichocereus gladiatus(Lem.) Backeb. 1936 Trichocereus lamprochlorus(Lem.) Britton & Rose 1920 Trichocereus neolamprochlorusBackeb. 1959 Trichocereus pseudocandicansR.Kiesling 1976 Trichocereus purpureopilosusWeing. 1936

Soehrensia candicans is a species of cactus from northern and western Argentina (Monte Desert). It has large fragrant white flowers that open at night. ^[2]

Description

Soehrensia candicans has a shrubby growth habit, with individual stems up to 60 cm (24 in) tall. The plant as a whole can be as much as 3 m (10 ft) across. The stems are light green, with a diameter of up to 14 cm (5.5 in) and have 9–11 low ribs. The large white areoles are spaced at 2–3 cm (0.8–1.2 in) and produce brownish yellow spines, the central spines being up to 10 cm (3.9 in) long, the radial spines only up to 4 cm (1.6 in). ^[2]

The fragrant white flowers open at night. They are large, up to 19 cm (7.5 in) across and 18–23 cm (7.1–9.1 in) long. ^[2]

• 
  Spines
• 
  Plants growing in habitat in Mendoza, Argentina
• 
  Flower
• 
  Soehrensia candicans 'Brevispinulosus'

Distribution

Soehrensia candicans is widespread in the Argentine provinces of Mendoza, San Juan, Córdoba, La Rioja, La Pampa, Buenos Aires and San Luis in the foothills of the Andes and Sierras of the Pampas at altitudes of 100 to 2000 meters. ^{[3] [4]}

Taxonomy

The species was first described in print by Joseph zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck in 1834 in his work Hortus Dyckensis, where he attributed the name Cereus candicans to Gillies. ^[4] In 1920, Britton and Rose placed the species in Trichocereus . ^[2] In a 1987 publication, David Hunt transferred the species to the genus Echinopsis, attributing this placement to Frédéric Weber. ^[5] The broad circumscription of Echinopsis remains controversial; the genus is accepted not to be monophyletic. ^[6]

Pharmacology

Soehrensia candicans contains 0.5–5.0% hordenine, ^[7] an alkaloid of the phenethylamine class sometimes sold as an ingredient of nutritional supplements.

References

1. "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010-09-20. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
2. Anderson, Edward F. (2001), The Cactus Family, Pentland, Oregon: Timber Press, ISBN   978-0-88192-498-5 , pp. 260–261
3. "Soehrensia candicans (Gillies ex Salm-Dyck) Schlumpb. — Plants of the World Online". Plants of the World Online. 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2023-09-16. The native range of this species is N. Argentina. It is a succulent subshrub and grows primarily in the desert or dry shrubland biome.
4. Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck, Joseph zu (1834), Hortus Dyckensis, Düsseldorf, OCLC   311220759 , p. 335.
5. IPNI Plant Name Query Results for Echinopsis candicans, The International Plant Names Index , retrieved 2012-04-27
6. Nyffeler, R. & Eggli, U. (2010), "A farewell to dated ideas and concepts: molecular phylogenetics and a revised suprageneric classification of the family Cactaceae", Schumannia, 6: 109–149, doi:10.5167/uzh-43285
7. Späth, E. (February 1919). "Über die Anhalonium-Alkaloide. I. Anhalin und Mezcalin" . Monatshefte für Chemie (in German). 40 (2): 129–54. doi:10.1007/BF01524590.

External links

• Media related to Soehrensia candicans at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Soehrensia candicans at Wikispecies