{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Speciesbox |image = Teguise Guatiza - Jardin - Espostoa guentheri 01 ies.jpg |image_caption = In cultivation in the Jardin de Cactus, Lanzarote |display_parents = 3 |genus = Vatricania |parent_authority = [[Curt Backeberg|Backeb.]] |species = guentheri |authority = ([[Walter Kupper|Kupper]]) Backeb.<ref name=Species/> |synonyms_ref = <ref name=Species>{{cite POWO |id=139014-1 |title=''Vatricania guentheri'' (Kupper) Backeb. |access-date=16 October 2023}}</ref> |synonyms = {{species list |Cephalocereus guentheri |Kupper |Cereus guentheri|(Kupper) Werderm., nom. illeg. |Echinopsis guentheri |(Kupper) Anceschi & Magli |Espostoa guentheri |(Kupper) Buxb. ex Eggli }} }}
'''''Vatricania''''' is a [[monotypic taxon|monotypic]] [[genus]] of [[flowering plant]]s belonging to the family [[Cactus|Cactaceae]]. It contains just one species, '''''Vatricania guentheri'''''.<ref name="POWO">{{cite web |title=''Vatricania'' Backeb. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:289127-2 |website=Plants of the World Online |access-date=4 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> It has the common name of '''red tail cactus'''.<ref name="planet"/><ref name="palmtree"/>
Its native range is [[Bolivia]].<ref name="POWO"/><ref name="planet">{{cite web |title=''Vatricania guentheri'' |url=https://planetdesert.com/products/vatricania-guentheri |website=Planet Desert |access-date=4 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> It is found in dry forest vegetation or covering hillsides, at altitudes of {{convert|800|-|1300|m}} metres above sea level.<ref name="llifle">{{cite web |title=''Vatricania guentheri'' |url=http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACTI/Family/Cactaceae/6821/Vatricania_guentheri |website=www.llifle.com |access-date=4 January 2022}}</ref>
==Description== ''Vatricania guentheri'' is an [[evergreen]], perennial columnar cactus.<ref name="planet"/><ref name="palmtree">{{cite web |title=VATRICANIA GUENTHERI. Red Foxtail Cactus. |url=https://www.thepalmtreecompany.com/product-page/vatricania-guentheri-red-foxtail-cactus |website=thepalmtreecompany |access-date=4 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Cullman>Willy Cullmann, Erich Gotz, Erich Götz, Gerhard Groner and Gerhard Gröner {{google books|Qe06AQAAIAAJ|The Encyclopedia of Cacti (1986)|page=311}}</ref> It can grow up to {{convert|2|m|0|abbr=on}} tall.<ref name="planet"/> Branching occurs from the base, with pale green stems up to {{convert|10|cm|0|abbr=on}} in diameter.<ref name="palmtree"/> It has about 27 ribs.<ref name="planet"/><ref name="palmtree"/><ref name=Cullman/> The flowers are initially borne in a [[cephalium]] (reddish brown wool,<ref name="palmtree"/>) running down from the crown (top of the plant) on one side, of the branches,<ref name="planet"/> later in a superficial dome cephalium.<ref name=Cullman/> It blooms during the early summer and develops yellowish whitish flowers that get up to 8 cm long and {{convert|5|-|3|cm|0|abbr=on}} in diameter.<ref name="planet"/> The flowers are yellowish white areoles or funnel shaped flowers,<ref name="palmtree"/> with 25 spines, {{convert|5|-|22|mm|0|abbr=on}} long.<ref name="planet"/><ref name="palmtree"/> It has edible fruit.<ref name="palmtree"/>
==Taxonomy== [[File:Espostoa guentheri in Jardin de Cactus on Lanzarote, June 2013 (1).jpg|thumb|Flower of the plant]] The genus was first described and published in 1950 by [[Curt Backeberg]].<ref name="POWO"/> The genus name ''Vatricania'' is in honour of [[Louis Félix Vatrican]] (1904–2007), an agricultural engineer from [[Monaco]], director of the national [[Jardin Exotique de Monaco|Jardin Exotique]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Burkhardt | first=Lotte | title=Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition |trans-title=Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition | publisher=Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin | year=2018 | isbn=978-3-946292-26-5 | url=https://doi.org/10.3372/epolist2018 |format=pdf |language=German |location=Berlin | doi=10.3372/epolist2018 | s2cid=187926901 |access-date=1 January 2021}}</ref> The genus is placed in the tribe ''Trichocereinae''.<ref>Reto Nyffeler & Urs Eggli (2010): A farewell to dated ideas and concepts: molecular phylogenetics and a revised suprageneric classification of the family Cactaceae. Schumannia 6: 109-149</ref>
In publishing the genus name, Backeberg designated ''Cephalocereus guentheri'' as the [[Type (biology)|type species]], although he did not actually use the combination ''Vatricania guentheri'',<ref name=Back50>{{Citation |last1=Backeberg |first1=Curt |date=1950 |title=Nova genera et subgenera |journal=Cactus and Succulent Journal |volume=22 |issue=5 |pages=153–154 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_cactus-and-succulent-journal_sept-oct-1950_22_5/page/153/mode/2up |access-date=2023-10-16 }}</ref> which he published in 1951. ''Cephalocereus guentheri'' was first described by Kupper in 1931.<ref name=Species/> The Latin [[binomial nomenclature|specific epithet]] ''guentheri'' refers to Ernesto Günther of [[Valparaíso]], Chile, who financed the expedition in Bolivia during which Carl Troll discovered the species. Kupper originally spelled the epithet ''Güntheri''.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Vatricania guentheri'' |url=https://www.cactusnames.org/vatricania-guentheri/ |publisher= Dictionary of Cactus Names|access-date=4 January 2022 |language=en |date=21 May 2021}}</ref>
The species was lumped into ''Espostoa'' in 1959.<ref name="Walker">{{cite journal |last1=Walker |first1=Colin C. |title=Two rare Bolivian endemic cacti |journal=New Zealand Cactus and Succulent Journal |date=3 December 2018 |volume=71 |pages=15–17}}</ref><ref name="llifle"/><ref>David Hunt (2006): The New Cactus Lexicon</ref> A hybrid origin was suggested as there are differences from ''Espostoa''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gorelick |first1=Root |title=Espostoa (Vatricania) Guentheri have Unusual Cephalia or Pseudocephalia |journal=Haseltonia |date=2019 |volume=26 |pages=58–67}}</ref> Molecular evidence suggests that ''Espostoa'' is not the correct placement for this species.<ref name="Walker"/>
==Cultivation== [[File:Teguise Guatiza - Jardin - Espostoa guentheri 05 ies.jpg|thumb|Cephalium]] Can be grown in the USA,<ref name="palmtree"/> in Zone USDA: 9b-11.<ref name="planet"/> It can survive a minimum average temperature of 55°F (12°C) and can tolerate positions in full sun.<ref name="planet"/>
==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Vatricania|''Vatricania''}} *{{Wikispecies-inline|Vatricania|''Vatricania''}} {{Taxonbar|from1=Q21447951|from2=Q109341558|from3=Q15039614}}
[[Category:Cereeae]] [[Category:Plants described in 1950]] [[Category:Flora of Bolivia]] [[Category:Monotypic Cactaceae genera]] [[Category:Cereeae genera]]