Grusonia parishii

(Orcutt) Pinkava

J. Arizona-Nevada Acad. Sci. 32: 50. 1999.

Common names: Parish club-cholla
Endemic
Basionym: Opuntia parishii Orcutt W. Amer. Sci. 10: 81. 1896
Synonyms: Corynopuntia parishii (Orcutt) F. M. Knuth Corynopuntia stanlyi var. parishii (Orcutt) Backeberg Opuntia stanlyi var. parishii (Orcutt) L. D. Benson
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Treatment on page 122. Mentioned on page 119, 123.

Shrubs, forming mats, 10–20 cm in series of usually 1–2 stem segments. Roots diffuse. Stem segments clavate, 5–9 × 2–3 cm; tubercles prominent, 15–25 mm, narrow, 4–6 times longer than wide, obscured by interlacing spines; areoles 5 mm in diam.; wool grayish white. Spines 14–17 (–22) per areole, mostly in distal areoles or ± uniformly distributed, white to brownish, tipped yellow; major 5–6 abaxial spines strongly deflexed, flattened, longest white-margined, 25–45 (–58) mm; central spine brown or white, long tapered; major ca. 5 adaxial spines divergent, blackish or brown to tan, subterete, angular-flattened at base, longest to 42 mm. Glochids adaxial in areoles, yellow, 5–8 mm. Flowers: inner tepals pale-yellow with narrow reddish midstripes, 15–22 mm; filaments pinkish or greenish to pale-yellow; style whitish to pale-yellow or dull pinkish; stigma lobes white, greenish white or pale-yellow. Fruits yellow, 35–55 × 15–20 mm, fleshy, spineless, densely yellow glochidiate; areoles 35–52. Seeds yellowish white, 4–4.5 × 3.5–4.5 mm, smooth. 2n = 22.


Phenology: Flowering late spring–early summer (May–Jul).
Habitat: Mojave and Sonoran deserts, silty, sandy, or gravelly flats, dunelets, hills
Elevation: 300-900 m

Discussion

L. D. Benson (1969) segregated plants of the southern Arizona populations, which are less robust than the others, as “Opuntia stanlyi var. peeblesiana;” unfortunately he included with its type other specimens that belong to Grusonia kunzei. Diploid plants of G. parishii have spineless (but glochidate) fruits; tetraploid plants of G. kunzei have spiny and glochidate fruits.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Grusonia parishii"
4.5 cm45 mm <br />0.045 m <br /> (5.8 cm58 mm <br />0.058 m <br />) +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (4.5 cm45 mm <br />0.045 m <br />) +
brown +  and tan +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (4.2 cm42 mm <br />0.042 m <br />) +
cushionlike +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (?) +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
35 +  and 52 +
cushionlike +
Donald J. Pinkava +
(Orcutt) Pinkava +
curving +
dislodged +
cylindric-clavate +
Opuntia parishii +
white +  and brown +
proliferating +
flattened +  and cylindric +
Parish club-cholla +
Ariz. +, Calif. +  and Nev. +
300-900 m +
greenish +  and pale-yellow +
salverform +, cup-shaped +  and rotate +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
yellow;yellow +
indehiscent +
persistent +, long +  and deciduous +
3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br /> (5.5 cm55 mm <br />0.055 m <br />) +
glochidiate +
narrowly obconic +  and ellipsoid +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
not protruding +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
Mojave and Sonoran deserts, silty, sandy, or gravelly flats, dunelets, hills +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (2.2 cm22 mm <br />0.022 m <br />) +
deciduous +
flattened +  and conic +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
succulent +
tuberculate +
fluted;spheric;depressed-spheric or club-shaped +
sometimes covered by outgrowths of proximal portion of style base or of flower tube wall +  and open +
persistent +  and deciduous +
Flowering late spring–early summer (May–Jul). +
ridgelike +  and nipple--shaped +
J. Arizona-Nevada Acad. Sci. +
3;2;2;30 +
adventitious +
tuberlike +
yellowish white +
0.4mm;12mm +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.45 cm4.5 mm <br />0.0045 m <br />) +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
flattened;suborbicular +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br /> (0.45 cm4.5 mm <br />0.0045 m <br />) +
distributed +  and interlacing +
tipped yellow +, white +  and brownish +
deciduous +  and persistent +
conspicuous +
14 (?) +  and 17 (?) +
terete +  and strongly flattened +
hard +  and rigid +
decurrent +
winged +  and unsegmented +
tuberculate +  and smooth +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (9 cm90 mm <br />0.09 m <br />) +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
segmented +
woody +  and succulent +
pale-yellow +, greenish white +  and white +
whitish +  and pale-yellow or dull pinkish +
Corynopuntia parishii +, Corynopuntia stanlyi var. parishii +  and Opuntia stanlyi var. parishii +
adventitious +
tuberlike +
epipetric +  and epiphytic +
Grusonia parishii +
Grusonia +
species +
dull +  and glossy +
obscured +  and prominent +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
conspicuous +
terrestrial;epiphytic or epipetric +
trailing +  and erect +
grayish white +