Melocactus caroli-linnaei

Melocactus caroli-linnaei
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Genus:	Melocactus
Species:	M. caroli-linnaei
Binomial name
Melocactus caroli-linnaei N.P.Taylor

Melocactus caroli-linnaei is a cactus (a member of the family Cactaceae) found in Jamaica. When mature it is columnar, up to 1 m (3.3 ft) high. Like all species of Melocactus, it forms a "cephalium" when mature – a dense mass of areoles covered with wool and spines at the tip of the stem. Flowers are produced only from the cephalium.^[1]

The species was originally named Cactus melocactus by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The genus Cactus was later split and the pre-Linnaean name Melocactus was used for melocacti. The rules of botanical nomenclature forbid the repetition of a genus name and a specific epithet, so the name "Melocactus melocactus" is not allowed. In 1991, Nigel Taylor gave the species its current name, Melocactus caroli-linnaei.^[1]

References

1. Anderson, Edward F. (2001), The Cactus Family, Pentland, Oregon: Timber Press, ISBN 978-0-88192-498-5, pages=456–459