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Cleistocactus winteri

species of plant

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 29, 2025
Entity authorityQ150196
Source-derived summary

Cleistocactus winteri is a succulent of the family Cactaceae. Its common name is the golden rat tail. Cleistocactus colademononis, which has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit, 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 90 centimetres (35 in) high with stems 2 to 2.5 centimetres (3⁄4 to 1 in) in diameter and 16 to 17 ribs, with 50 spines 0.4 to 1 centimetre (1⁄8 to 3⁄8 in) 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.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Cleistocactus winteri” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Cleistocactus, winteri and species.

Editorial reviewA sound reference starting point where classification, measurement and the date of the underlying evidence remain visible. The current 160-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Cleistocactus, winteri and species providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Cleistocactus winteri”, the useful work is to connect “species of plant” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 29, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q150196. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

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  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Cleistocactus winteri”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Cleistocactus winteri primary sources, Cleistocactus winteri archive and Cleistocactus research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cleistocactus winteri”?
  2. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
  3. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Cleistocactus winteri” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.