Rhipsalis baccifera
species of plant
Rhipsalis baccifera, commonly known as the mistletoe cactus, is an epiphytic cactus which originates in Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Florida. It is also found throughout the tropics of Africa and into Sri Lanka. This is the only cactus species naturally occurring outside the Americas. One hypothesis is that it was introduced to the Old World by migratory birds, long enough ago for the Old World populations to be regarded as distinct subspecies. An alternative hypothesis holds that the species initially crossed the Atlantic Ocean on European ships trading between South America and Africa, after which birds may have spread it more widely.
Taxonomy
The species shows considerable polymorphism and can be divided into numerous subspecies. Mesoamerican specimens are usually tetraploid and South American specimens are diploid. The genera currently assigned to the tribe Rhipsalideae (which include Hatiora, Lepismium, and Schlumbergera in addition to Rhipsalis) were subject to considerable confusion and disagreement prior to the clarification by Wilhelm Barthlott and Nigel Taylor in 1995.
Gallery
References
"Rhipsalis baccifera (J.S. Mueller) Stearn in Cact. J. (Croydon) 7: 107 (1939)".
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This entry incorporates text from “Rhipsalis baccifera” 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.