In 1984, the International Organization for Succulent Plant Study set up a working party, now called the International Cactaceae Systematics Group, to produce a consensus classification of the cactus family, down to the level of genus. Their classification has been used as the basis for systems published since the mid-1990s. Treatments in the 21st century have generally divided the family into around 125–130 genera and 1,400–1,500 species, which are then arranged in a number of tribes and subfamilies. However, subsequent molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that a very high proportion of the higher taxa (genera, tribes and subfamilies) are not monophyletic, i.e. they do not contain all of the descendants of a common ancestor. As of August2023[update], the internal classification of the familyCactaceae remained uncertain and subject to change. A classification incorporating many of the insights from the molecular studies was produced by Nyffeler and Eggli in 2010.[1]
The classification of the family Cactaceae remains uncertain as of August2023[update]. Since the mid-1990s, the system produced by the International Cactaceae Systematics Group (ICSG) of the International Organization for Succulent Plant Study has been used as the basis of many published classifications. Detailed treatments produced in the 21st century have divided the family into around 125–130 genera and 1,400–1,500 species, which are then arranged into a number of tribes and subfamilies.[2][3][4]
Many of the genera within the Opuntioideae are not monophyletic. Maihueniopsis is highly polyphyletic, appearing in four separate lineages. The two largest genera within the subfamily, Opuntia and Cylindropuntia are also not monophyletic. The classification of the Opuntioideae is thus uncertain as of March2012[update]; Griffith and Porter say that changes in classification will require "broad information (of multiple data types) regarding all species of opuntioid cacti".[8]
The ICSG classification divides the subfamily Cactoideae into nine tribes. However, phylogenetic research has not supported most of these tribes, nor even the genera of which they are composed. A 2011 study found that "an extraordinarily high proportion of genera" were not monophyletic, including 22 (61%) of the 36 genera in the subfamily Cactoideae sampled in the research.[4] Of the nine tribes recognized within Cactoideae, one, Calymmantheae, comprises a single genus, Calymmanthium.[2] Of the remaining eight, only two (Cacteae and Rhipsalideae) have been shown to be monophyletic. A summary of the cladograms for the Cactoideae presented in a 2011 paper is shown below (ICSG tribes in bold).[9]
The classification of the Cactaceae thus remains subject to change, from the genus level upwards. In 2016, David Hunt wrote that "the advent of molecular systematic studies in the past two decades will hopefully have a stabilizing effect on classification in due course, but has so far had the opposite effect".[10]
Nyffler and Eggli (2010) classification
In 2010, Nyffler and Eggli produced a classification based on an explicit phylogeny. The broad outlines of their cladogram agree with that of Hern et al. (2011), shown above, although some details are different. Their classification corresponds to the cladogram shown below.[1]
The table below shows how the genera recognized by Nyffler and Eggli are placed into their subfamilies and tribes (they also use some subtribes, not shown here). The column headed "Older tribe (if different)" shows the ICSG classification of the subfamily Cactoideae (as presented by Anderson in 2001[11]) with a 2002 classification of the subfamily Opuntioideae.[6][12] There are differences in the genera recognized in the systems; where the older system does not recognize the genus, "–" is shown.
Unless otherwise indicated, the subfamily placement of the genera listed here is based on Anderson's 2001 presentation of the ICSG classification, as is the tribal placement of the genera of the subfamily Cactoideae.[11] The division of the subfamily Opuntioideae into tribes is additional to the ICSG system.[6][12]
1 2 3 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
1 2 Edwards, Erika J.; Nyffeler, Reto & Donoghue, Michael J. (2005), "Basal cactus phylogeny: implications of Pereskia (Cactaceae) paraphyly for the transition to the cactus life form", American Journal of Botany, 92 (7): 1177–1188, doi:10.3732/ajb.92.7.1177, PMID21646140
1 2 3 4 Wallace, R.S. & Dickie, S.L. (2002), "Systematic implication of chloroplast DNA sequence variation in subfam. Opuntioideae (Cactaceae)", Succulent Plant Research, 6: 9–24, cited in Griffith & Porter 2009
↑ Griffith, M. Patrick & Porter, J. Mark (2009), "Phylogeny of Opuntioideae (Cactaceae)", International Journal of Plant Sciences, 170 (1): 107–116, doi:10.1086/593048 . Tree based on fig. 1 with tribes from fig. 2.
↑ Hernández-Hernández, Tania; Hernández, Héctor M.; De-Nova, J. Arturo; Puente, Raul; Eguiarte, Luis E. & Magallón, Susana (2011), "Phylogenetic relationships and evolution of growth form in Cactaceae (Caryophyllales, Eudicotyledoneae)", American Journal of Botany, 98 (1): 44–61, doi:10.3732/ajb.1000129, PMID21613084
↑ Kiesling, R. & Ferrari, O. (2003), "Yavia cryptocarpa – conservation action on a new and interesting cactus", British Cactus and Succulent Journal, 21 (1): 20–25
Bibliography
Anderson, Edward F. (2001), The Cactus Family, Pentland, Oregon: Timber Press, ISBN978-0-88192-498-5
Rebutia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cactaceae, native to Bolivia and Argentina. They are generally small, colorful cacti, globular in form, which freely produce flowers that are relatively large in relation to the body. They have no distinctive ribs, but do have regularly arranged small tubercles. They are considered fairly easy to grow and they may produce large quantities of seeds that germinate freely around the parent plant.
Cleistocactus is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae, native to mountainous areas - to 3,000 m (9,843 ft) - of South America. The name comes from the Greek kleistos meaning closed because the flowers hardly open.
Echinocactus is a genus of cacti in the subfamily Cactoideae. The generic name derives from the Ancient Greek εχινος (echinos), meaning "spiny," and cactus. It and Ferocactus are the two genera of barrel cactus. Members of the genus usually have heavy spination and relatively small flowers. The fruits are copiously woolly, and this is one major distinction between Echinocactus and Ferocactus. Propagation is by seed.
Schlumbergera is a small genus of cacti with six to nine species found in the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil. These plants grow on trees or rocks in habitats that are generally shady with high humidity, and can be quite different in appearance from their desert-dwelling cousins. Most species of Schlumbergera have stems which resemble leaf-like pads joined one to the other and flowers which appear from areoles at the joints and tips of the stems. Two species have cylindrical stems more similar to other cacti.
Armatocereus is a genus of mostly tree-like cacti from South America. These species have a conspicuous constriction at the end of the annual growth. The flowers are mostly white, with a more or less spiny ovary. The fruits are mostly spiny.
Coryphantha, or beehive cactus, is a genus of small to middle-sized, globose or columnar cacti. The genus is native to arid parts of Central America, Mexico, through Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas and north into southwestern, central, and southeastern Montana. With its two subgenera, 57 species and 20 subspecies, it is one of the largest genera of cactus.
Thelocactus is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Members of the genus are native to the arid lands of Central and Northern Mexico.
Pilosocereus is a genus of cactus native to the Neotropics. Tree cactus is a common name for Pilosocereus species. The genera Caerulocereus and Pseudopilocereus are synonyms of this genus.
Strophocactus is a genus of cacti in the subfamily Cactoideae. Its status and circumscription remain somewhat uncertain, with the genus containing one to three species. Molecular phylogenetic data suggest that it consists of three species, including two formerly comprising the genus Pseudoacanthocereus. With this circumscription, the species have different growth habits, but share similarities in their flowers, which are white and open at night.
Eriosyce is a genus of cacti native to Chile.
Corryocactus is a genus of cacti. The genus was formerly placed in the tribe Notocacteae. It has also been placed in the tribe Echinocereeae. A 2011 molecular phylogenetic study excluded the genus from the "core" Echinocereeae, commenting that it lay "outside of a well-supported larger clade in our analysis".
Hatiora is a small genus of epiphytic cacti which belongs to the tribe Rhipsalideae within the subfamily Cactoideae of the Cactaceae. Recent taxonomic studies have led to the three species formerly placed in subgenus Rhipsalidopsis being removed from the genus, including the well known and widely cultivated ornamental plants known as Easter cactus or Whitsun cactus.
Weingartia is a genus in the family Cactaceae, with species native to Bolivia and Argentina. Molecular phylogenetic evidence suggests that it may be distinct from Rebutia. It is treated as a synonym of that genus by Plants of the World Online as of September 2023, but recognized as an alternative generic name in the third edition of the CITES Cactaceae Checklist. It may also be treated as Rebutia subg. Weingartia.
Grusonia is a genus of opuntioid cacti, originating from the North American Deserts in Southwest United States and northern Mexico, including Baja California. Authors differ on precise boundaries of the genus, which has been included in Cylindropuntia. Corynopuntia, also known as club chollas, is now a synonym, with the genus originally being described by Knuth in 1935. Molecular phylogenetic studies suggest that it should be included in Grusonia, a view accepted by Plants of the World Online as of June 2021.
Opuntioideae is a subfamily of the cactus family, Cactaceae. It contains 15 genera divided into five tribes. The subfamily encompasses roughly 220–250 species, and is geographically distributed throughout the New World from Canada, to Argentina. Members of this subfamily have diverse habits, including small geophytes, hemispherical cushions, shrubs, trees, and columnar cacti consisting of indeterminate branches or determinate terete or spherical segments.
Aporocactus martianus is a species of cactus found in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Haageocereus fascicularis commonly known as 'Quisco de la precordillera de Arica' is a species of cactus from the family Cactaceae. It is endemic to southern Peru and northern Chile.
Cereeae is a tribe of cacti belonging to the subfamily Cactoideae containing about 50 genera, divided among three subtribes Cereinae, Rebutiinae and Trichocereinae.
Acanthocalycium spiniflorum is a species of flowering plant in the cactus family Cactaceae from Argentina.
Stenocereus martinezii is a species of flowering plant in the family Cactaceae, native to Sinaloa in Mexico. A candelabriform cactus typically 5 to 7 m tall, it is easy to propagate from cuttings, so local people use it to build live fences.
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