Eriosyce andicola (F.Ritter) P.C.Guerrero & Helmut Walter, 2024

Walter, Helmut E., Cadiz-Veliz, Aron, Merino, Beatriz M., Villalobos-Barrantes, Heidy M. & Guerrero, Pablo C., 2024, Taxonomic dissection based on molecular evidence of the Eriosyce curvispina complex (Cactaceae): identifying nine endemic species from Central Chile, PhytoKeys 237, pp. 117-139 : 117

2. Eriosyce andicola (F.Ritter) P.C.Guerrero & Helmut Walter comb. nov.

Horridocactus andicola F. Ritter, Succulenta (NL) 7: 97. 1959. Basionym.

≡ Pyrrhocactus andicola (F.Ritter) F.Ritter in Succulenta (Netherlands) 10: 131. 1959 syn. sec. Hunt (1999) ≡ Neoporteria curvispina var. andicola (F.Ritter) Donald & G.D.Rowley in Cact. Succ. J. Gr. Brit. 28: 55. 1966 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)

= Horridocactus andicola var. descendens F.Ritter in Succulenta (Netherlands) 7: 97. 1959 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019) ≡ Neoporteria curvispina f. descendens (F.Ritter) Donald & G.D.Rowley in Cact. Succ. J. Gr. Brit. 28: 55. 1966 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)

= Horridocactus andicola var. robustus F.Ritter in Succulenta (Netherlands) 7: 97. 1959 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019) ≡ Pyrrhocactus andicola var. robustus (F.Ritter) F.Ritter in Succulenta (Netherlands) 1959: 131. 1959 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019) ≡ Pyrrhocactus andicola var. mollensis F. Ritter, Succulenta (NL) 10: 131. 1959.

Type.

Chile, Southern America, Valparaíso Region, Cerro Chivato between Santiago and Los Andes , May 1955, F. Ritter 468 (Holotype: U 0249335, digital image!) .

(Image available at https://bioportal.naturalis.nl/en/specimen/U__0249335).

Iconography.

F. Ritter, Kakt. Sudam. 3: 1980 (as Pyrhocactus andicola var. robustus ); A.E. Hoffmann, Cact. Fl. Sylv. Chile, Lamina 53 a. 1989 (as Neoporteria curvispina var. andicola ).

Morphological notes.

Stems globose, more than 20 cm high with age, apex spiny, 12-16 cm diameter, not branching. Roots fasciculate. Ribs 16-24 cm, 10-15 mm high, notched and somewhat chinned below areoles. Areoles 7-12 mm long and 5-7 mm broad, 1 cm apart. Spines finely aciculate, lower half whitish, upper ones brownish-reddish, dark or light banded; radial spines 10-14, 2-3 cm long, central ones 4-7 cm, somewhat curved upward, 3-4 cm long. Flowers ca. 5 cm, funnel-form; pericarpel and tube green, interior white, bract scales tiny, yellowish, axils with white inconspicuous thin bristles and scarce wool; perianth segments 0.7-1cm broad, spathulate with short tips; lemon- to olive-yellow, often with a narrow pale purple central stripe; style basally widened, whitish; stigma-lobes whitish; filaments whitish; nectary tubular; ovary elongated. Fruit pale red, 1.5 cm, barrel-shape; bract-scales inconspicuous; basal pore large; perianth remnant attachment wide. Seeds ca. 1.5 mm, short ovoid; testa black, opaque, finely tuberculate; ventrally strongly bulged, notched below hilum; hilum shortly ovoid, position ventral.

Distribution.

Endemic species occurring between the Rio Molles (30°S, 70°W) and Cerro Chivato (33°S, 70°W) at altitudes between 1000 and 2000 m.

Conservation status.

The Extent of Occurrence (EOO) of E. andicola is estimated to be <20.000 km2, with its populations severely fragmented due to landscape anthropization. There has been an estimated decrease in population size and the number of localities, as well as a loss of habitat quality due to mining activities, stump removal, and livestock. We propose to classify the species as Vulnerable (VU) according to criteria B1ab(i,iii,iv).