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Genus Rhipsalis in Family Cactaceae

In botanical taxonomy, a genus (plural genera) is a rank used to group closely related species within a family. In the hierarchy, genus sits below family and above species.

Genera are defined by shared morphological, anatomical, and genetic characteristics (for example, features of flowers, fruits, seeds, or leaves) that indicate a close evolutionary relationship among the species they contain.

Each genus can include one or more species. Examples include Rosa (roses) and Solanum (nightshades, including tomato and eggplant).

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Genus Description

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Rhipsalis is a genus of epiphytic to lithophytic cacti in tribe Rhipsalideae, tribe core Cactaceae. It comprises about 70 accepted species (POWO, 2024; WFO, 2024) distributed across the Neotropics from southern Mexico to northern Argentina and southern Brazil, with an outlier in tropical Africa, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka (Barthlott & Theisen, 1995). The type species, commonly cited as Rhipsalis cassytha, reflects the genus’s early circumscription.

The plants are usually pendent shrubs with slender, segmented stems that are terete, angular, or flattened; many are leafless. Areoles bear spines or bristles that vary in presence and size. Flowers are solitary, terminal or lateral, diurnal, rotate to short-salverform, with numerous tepals that are white to creamy or yellow in many species. The ovary is generally semi-inferior, with parietal or rarely basal-axile placentation, a distinguishing feature within tribe Rhipsalideae, and the fruit is a fleshy berry. Seeds are small, black, and sometimes embedded in mucilage; seedling morphology is characteristic for the tribe (Barthlott & Theisen, 1995). The genus exhibits CAM photosynthesis consistent with epiphytic cacti.

Centers of diversity are the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and southern Mexico to Central America, with numerous local endemics in cloud and lowland forests from near sea level to mid-elevations (Hunt et al., 2006). Biogeographically, Rhipsalis shows a classic American Neotropical distribution with a striking disjunct presence in Africa and Madagascar, likely reflecting long-distance dispersal (Calvente et al., 2011). Ecological relationships include ant-plant associations in some lineages (Chomicki & Renner, 2017).

Taxonomically, Rhipsalis is monophyletic as currently delimited and forms the core of tribe Rhipsalideae (Bárcenas, 2018; Calvente et al., 2011). Historical sectional treatments have included Rhipsalis sect. Rhipsalis and sect. Oblongae, but modern treatments increasingly emphasize informal clades rather than formal ranks; several genera historically segregated (e.g., Pseudorhipsalis) have been re-included, though some authors retain broader boundaries for Lepismium (Hunt et al., 2006). Chromosome counts remain sparse; reliable reports include x=11, though counts vary among species and species-level numbers are inconsistently documented (Pinkava, 2002).

Many species are cultivated as ornamentals, especially in hanging baskets, and several, such as Rhipsalis baccifera and R. cereuscula, are widely available in horticulture (Hunt et al., 2006). While some taxa may naturalize on ledges and walls in suitable climates, none are widely recognized as invasive. Conservation priorities lie in documenting richness and threat levels in highly diverse, fragmented regions; otherwise the outlook is stable for widespread species but uncertain for narrow endemics (Hunt et al., 2006).

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