Gymnocalycium anisitsii


Gymnocalycium anisitsii is a globular cactus belonging to the family Cactaceae. The specific epithet honors the Hungarian pharmacist Dániel Anisits J..

Description

Gymnocalycium anisitsii can be solitary or slowly clustering with light green, often reddish or purple-tinged, spherical to short columnar shoots. It reaches a diameter of 8–15 cm and a height of about 10 cm. Sometimes a central spine is present, but it is usually absent. The eight to eleven ribs have pointed humps. Sometimes a central spine is present, but usually it is absent. The 5-7 spines are yellowish to brownish, slender, twisted and 1–6 cm long. The flowers are white to pink, funnel-shaped, up to 4 inches long. The red fruits are long and cylindrical, up to 2.5 cm long with a diameter of 1 cm.

Subspecies

Accepted subspecies:
ImageScientific nameDistribution
Gymnocalycium anisitsii subsp. anisitsiiBolivia to Paraguay
Gymnocalycium anisitsii subsp. damsii G.J.CharlesBrazil

Distribution

Gymnocalycium anisitsii is widespread in southern Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. This species prefers open areas with the protection of low bushes.

Taxonomy

The first description as Echinocactus anisitsii was made in 1900 by Karl Moritz Schumann. The specific epithet anisitsii honors the Hungarian pharmacist Dániel J. Anisits, who supplied Karl Moritz Schumann with cacti. Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose placed the species in the genus Gymnocalycium in 1922.