Cleistocactus winteri

{{Short description|Species of cactus}} {{Speciesbox |name = Golden rat tail |image = Cleistocactus winteri HabitusFlower BotGard0906a.jpg |status = EN |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref =<ref name="IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010 p. ">{{cite journal | title=The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species | journal=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species | date=2010-09-21 | url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/151756/558142 | access-date=2023-09-01 | page=}}</ref> |genus = Cleistocactus |species = winteri |authority = D.Hunt |synonyms = *''Borzicactus aureispinus'' (F.Ritter) G.D.Rowley *''Cleistocactus aureispinus'' (F.Ritter) D.R.Hunt *''Hildewintera aureispina'' (F.Ritter) F.Ritter ex G.D.Rowley *''Winteria aureispina'' F.Ritter *''Winterocereus aureispinus'' (F.Ritter) Backeb. |synonyms_ref = {{cn|date=April 2025}}}}

'''''Cleistocactus winteri''''' is a succulent of the family Cactaceae. Its common name is the '''golden rat tail'''.<ref name="llifle" /> ''Cleistocactus colademononis'', which has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit,<ref>{{cite web |title=''Cleistocactus colademononis'' |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/327556/i-Cleistocactus-colademononis-i/Details |date=2021 |publisher=The Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=7 July 2021 }}</ref> is sometimes considered to be a subspecies, ''Cleistocactus winteri'' subsp. ''colademono''.

==Description== This plant is a columnar cactus that forms huge tangled mounds of fairly rapid growth hanging or creeping, green shoots, up to {{convert|90|cm|in|0}} high with stems {{convert|2 to 2.5 |cm|in|frac=4}} in diameter and 16 to 17 ribs, with 50 spines {{convert|0.4 to 1|cm|in|frac=8}} long. The brown areoles on it are close together. It has many short bristly golden spines that are flexible, thin and straight and literally cover the surface of the stems. The approximately 20 stronger central spines are 5 to 10 millimeters long. The plant requires water during the summer and to be kept dry in the winter. It reproduces by seeds and cuttings. <ref name="Arana 2005 p. 93">{{cite book | last=Arana | first=Carme Farré | title=Le grand livre des cactus et autres plantes grasses | publisher=De Vecchi | date=2005 | isbn=2-7328-1395-8 | language=fr | page=93}}</ref>

It has salmon-pink flowers in spring and summer that are {{convert|4 to 6|cm|in|frac=4}} long and {{convert|5|cm|in|frac=4}} in diameter. Depending on the position of the shoots, the flowers are bent upwards to outwards to upright. The bracts are orange-red. The outer ones are radiating to slightly reflexed, the inner ones distinctly shorter and erect. Its flowers survive for a few days before transitioning to fruit for a short period of time which are {{convert|1|cm|in|frac=8}} long. The stamens and style protrude from the flower. The barrel-shaped, green to reddish-green fruits are 7 to 10 millimeters long and reach the same diameter.<ref name="Anderson Eggli 2005 p. 128">{{cite book | last=Anderson | first=Edward F. | last2=Eggli | first2=Urs | title=Das grosse Kakteen-Lexikon | date=2005 | isbn=3-8001-4573-1 | language=de | page= 128.}}</ref> <gallery> Image:Cleistocactus winteri.JPG|form Image:Cleistocactus winteri up close.JPG|close-up File:IMG 1007-1-Cleistocactus winteri.jpg|Flower </gallery>

==Distribution== ''Cleistocactus winteri'' is distributed in the Bolivian department of Santa Cruz in the province of Florida at altitudes of about 1400 to 1500 meters where it hangs on rocks.

==Taxonomy== The first description as'' Winteria aureispina'' was in 1962 by Friedrich Ritter.<ref name="Au Cactus Francophone u360">{{cite web | title=Au Cactus Francophone : | website=Au Cactus Francophone | url=https://www.cactuspro.com/lecture/Kakteen-und-andere-Sukkulenten/Kakteen-und-andere-Sukkulenten-1962-1/page-6.en.html | language=fr | access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref> David Richard Hunt placed the species in the genus ''Cleistocactus'' in 1988. A new name was necessary because the name ''Cleistocactus aureispinus'' Frič (1928) already existed. Nomenclature synonyms are ''Winterocereus aureispinus'' (F.Ritter) Backeb. (1966), ''Hildewintera aureispina'' (F.Ritter) F.Ritter (1968), ''Loxanthocereus aureispinus'' (F.Ritter) F.Buxbaum (1974), ''Borzicactus aureispinus'' (F.Ritter) G.D.Rowley (1975) and ''Cleistocactus aureispinus'' (F. Ritter) D.R.Hunt (1987, nom. illegal).

==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="llifle">{{cite web|url=http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACTI/Family/Cactaceae/3784/Cleistocactus_winteri|title=Cleistocactus winteri}}</ref> }} ==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Cleistocactus winteri|''Cleistocactus winteri''}} *{{Wikispecies-inline|Cleistocactus winteri|''Cleistocactus winteri''}}

winteri Category:Cacti of South America Category:Flora of Argentina Category:Flora of Bolivia Category:Flora of Peru Category:Flora of Uruguay