Rhipsalis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rhipsalis rosea flowers
|
||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Rhipsalis baccifera - mistletoe cactus |
Rhipsalis (from Greek, "wickerwork") is a genus of epiphytic, mostly spineless cacti.
The genus is found widely in Central America, parts of the Caribbean and a great part of northern and central South America. One particular species, Rhipsalis baccifera (mistletoe cactus), is also found throughout the range in the New World, but also in Africa, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, India and Nepal. Several theories have been advanced to explain the dispersion of Rhipsalis baccifera. One of them suggest migratory birds having brought the species to the Old World. A second theory suggests that it was carried to the Old World as a substitute for mistletoe during Christmas.
[edit] Synonymy
The following genera have been brought into synonymy with Rhipsalis:
Furthermore, some Cassytha species have been reassigned to Rhipsalis.
