The pendent cacti of Biazil

摘要

Brazil harbors one of the world's greatest diversity of cacti, which occur in almost all federal states, all climate zones and nearly all types of landscapes, mainly in soil, gravel or on pure rocks. Besides the familiar globular genera (Discocactus,Melocactus, Uebelmannia, Parodia, Frailea, Gymnocalycium) there are many cereoid and stem-segmented types, most of which are arborescent, growing more or less upright. In several genera, however, there are species (or sometimes atypical populations) that display pendent growth.