Tephrocacteae Doweld, 1999

Walter, Helmut E. & Guerrero, Pablo C., 2022, Towards a unified taxonomic catalogue for the Chilean cacti: assembling molecular systematics and classical taxonomy, Phytotaxa 550 (2), pp. 79-98 : 82

Tribe Tephrocacteae Doweld :

—According to phylogenetic analyses ( Ritz et al. 2012, Walker et al. 2018, Majure et al. 2019), the monophyletic clade “ Tephrocacteae ” represents a widely distributed group which includes the genera Pterocactus K.Schum. , Maihueniopsis Speg. , Tephrocactus Lem. , Austrocylindropuntia Backeb. , and Cumulopuntia F.Ritter. The study by Ritz et al. (2012) retrieved two main clades, one of which comprises Pterocactus and Maihueniopsis and the other one harbours Tephrocactus and the sister pair Cumulopuntia and Austrocylindropuntia . Former taxonomic concepts (e.g. Hunt et al. 2006: p. 12) suggested a close relationship between Maihueniopsis and Cumulopuntia mainly for their shared gross morphology. Wallace & Dickie’s (2002) results suggest a close relationship between Maihueniopsis and Thephrocactus and, furthermore, Pterocactus was treated as a tribe, an opinion shared by Nyffeler & Eggli (2010). Yet, in Griffith & Porter (2009), Pterocactus was not isolated but was placed together with Maihueniopsis in a basal grade to the rest of the terete-stemmed Opuntioideae . Ritz et al. (2012) showed that Pterocactus is not isolated, appearing as sister to Maihueniopsis . This finding supports Stuppy’s (2001) assumption that the genus might be closely related to Maihueniopsis . Although some morphological characters of Pterocactus are unique in the tribe and the Opuntioideae (the base of the glochids is rounded; the flowers are immersed into the apex of the segment; at an early oncological stage the fruit is not clearly separated from the surrounding tissue of the segment; the funicular girdle of the seed forms a broad papery and undulating wing), it shares some important morphological characters with Maihueniopsis . According to all these findings our classification follows the results of Ritz et al. (2012). According to the results of Ritz et al. one large species-complex was split: Cumulopuntia boliviana (Salm-Dyck) F.Ritter ( Table 2 ).