Senita

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Lophocereus schottii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Spermatophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Subfamily: Cactoideae
Genus: Lophocereus
Species:
L. schottii
Binomial name
Lophocereus schottii
(Engelm.) Britton & Rose[2]
Synonyms[2]
  • Cereus mieckleyanus Weing.
  • Cereus palmeri F.A.C.Weber
  • Cereus sargentianus Orcutt
  • Cereus schottii Engelm.
  • Lemaireocereus mieckleyanus (Weing.) Borg
  • Lophocereus australis Britton & Rose
  • Lophocereus mieckleyanus (Weing.) Backeb.
  • Lophocereus sargentianus (Orcutt) Britton & Rose
  • Pachycereus schottii (Engelm.) D.R.Hunt
  • Pilocereus sargentianus Orcutt ex K.Schum.
  • Pilocereus schottii (Engelm.) Lem.

Lophocereus schottii, the senita cactus,[3] is a species of cactus from southern Arizona and north-western Mexico, particularly Baja California and Sonora.

Description

Lophocereus schottii grows tree-shaped to shrub-like with yellow-green, more or less upright shoots, which often develop into thickets with more than 100 shoots. It reaches heights of 1 to 3 meters and shoot diameters of 5 to 10 cm (2.0 to 3.9 in). A tribe is rarely formed. There are 4 to 13 clearly defined ribs. The 1 to 3 strong, gray central spines are 1 to 3 cm (0.39 to 1.18 in) long. The 3 to 5 marginal spines are gray and 0.5 to 1.5 cm (0.20 to 0.59 in) long. The terminal pseudocephalium consists of bristly, flexible, gray spines. It occasionally grows to be more than 100 cm (39 in) long.

The funnel-shaped flowers appear laterally from the pseudocephalium and open at night. They are white to deep pink, up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long and reach a diameter of 3 cm (1.2 in). Its pericarpel and flower tube are covered with scales and hairs. The spherical, red fruits contain red pulp and reach a diameter of 1 to 3 cm (0.39 to 1.18 in). They are edible, but are rarely used as food.[4]

Distribution

The distribution area of Lophocereus schottii extends from the south of the US state of Arizona to the northwest of Mexico and includes the states of Baja California and Sonora. The species grows at altitudes from 0 to 800 meters.

Ecology

The senita cactus exhibits mutualism with the senita moth. The senita moth is the only nocturnal pollinator of the cactus, and the moth relies on the cactus as a host for reproduction.[5]

Phytochemistry

Tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids were identified; one of them, lophocerine,[6] is a substituted salsolinol, as well as a trimer of lophocerine—pilocereine.[7] Among other compounds, phytosterols such as lophenol, schottenol, lathosterol, spinasterol, locereol, and other compounds.[8] Salsolidine, peyonine, peyophorine and anhalotine were also isolated; among the flavonoids, myricetin, epicatechin, quercetin derivatives, and kaempferol were isolated.[6]

Taxonomy

The first description as Cereus schottii was made in 1856 by George Engelmann.[9] The specific epithet schottii honors the German naturalist and plant collector Arthur Schott, who was involved in surveying the border between the United States and Mexico. Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose placed the species in the genus Lemaireocereus in 1909. Further nomenclature synonyms are Pilocereus schottii (Engelm.) Lem. (1862) and Lophocereus schottii (Engelm.) D.R.Hunt (1987).[9]

References

  1. "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010-05-12. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  2. "Lophocereus schottii (Engelm.) Britton & Rose", Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2021-03-16
  3. NRCS. "Pachycereus schottii". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  4. Anderson, Edward F.; Eggli, Urs (2005). Das grosse Kakteen-Lexikon (in German). Stuttgart (Hohenheim): Ulmer. pp. 492–493. ISBN 3-8001-4573-1.
  5. Holland, J. Nathaniel; Fleming, Theodore H. (1999-09-01). "Mutualistic Interactions Between Upiga Virescens (pyralidae), a Pollinating Seed-Consumer, and Lophocereus Schottii (cactaceae)". Ecology. 80 (6): 2074–2084. doi:10.1890/0012-9658(1999)080[2074:mibuvp]2.0.co;2. hdl:1911/21700. ISSN 1939-9170.
  6. Orozco-Barocio, Arturo; Robles-Rodríguez, Blanca Susana; Camacho-Corona, María Del Rayo; Méndez-López, Luis Fernando; Godínez-Rubí, Marisol; Peregrina-Sandoval, Jorge; Rivera, Gildardo; Rojas Mayorquín, Argelia E.; Ortuno-Sahagun, Daniel (2022). "In vitro Anticancer Activity of the Polar Fraction From the Lophocereus schottii Ethanolic Extract". Frontiers in Pharmacology. 13 820381. doi:10.3389/fphar.2022.820381. ISSN 1663-9812. PMC 9014087. PMID 35444555.
  7. Djerassi, Carl; Frick, N.; Geller, L. E. (1953). "Alkaloid Studies. I. The Isolation of Pilocereine from the Cactus Lophocereus schottii". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 75 (15): 3632–3635. Bibcode:1953JAChS..75.3632D. doi:10.1021/ja01111a008. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
  8. Salazar, Juan Rodrigo; Loza-Mejía, Marco A.; Soto-Cabrera, Diego (2020-04-03). "Chemistry, Biological Activities and In Silico Bioprospection of Sterols and Triterpenes from Mexican Columnar Cactaceae". Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). 25 (7): 1649. doi:10.3390/molecules25071649. ISSN 1420-3049. PMC 7180492. PMID 32260146.
  9. Arts, American Academy of (1852). "Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences". Metcalf and Co. ISSN 0199-9818. Retrieved 2023-11-04.