Eriosyce strausiana

Description

Eriosyce strausiana is a species of plant in the genus Eriosyce of the cactus family (Cactaceae). The specific epithet strausiana honors L. Straus (1862–1934), a German merchant and cactus enthusiast from Bruchsal and co-founder of the German Cactus Society. Eriosyce strausiana grows individually with spherical to elongated shoots and reaches heights of growth of up to 20 centimeters with a diameter of 8 to 15 centimeters. The top of her head is bald. The fibrous roots arise from short taproots. There are twelve to fourteen blunt ribs, some of which are notched. The grayish black to dark horn-colored spines are mostly curved upwards. The one to eight central spines are 3 to 4 centimeters, the eight to 14 radial spines 2.5 to 3 centimeters long. The broadly funnel-shaped, (dirty) yellow flowers appear from young areoles. They are 3.5 to 4 centimeters long and have a diameter of 3.5 to 5 centimeters. Your pericarpel and the flower tube are covered with wool and bristles. The short, ovoid, greenish fruits are thin-walled and tear open at a basal pore. They are 7 to 10 millimeters long. Eriosyce strausiana is distributed in central Argentina. The range extends from the province of San Juan to the north of the province of Río Negro. The first description as Echinocactus strausianus was in 1901 by Karl Moritz Schumann. Fred Kattermann placed the species in the genus Eriosyce in 1994. Other nomenclatural synonyms are Malacocarpus strausianus (K.Schum.) Britton & Rose (1922), Pyrrhocactus strausianus (K.Schum.) A.Berger (1929) and Neoporteria strausiana (K.Schum.) Donald & GDRowley (1966).