Info
New combination - Pelecyphora chlorantha (Engelmann) A. D. Stock comb. nov.
Info 028 - September 12, 2026
In 2023, the combination set out below was published in a journal article by Stock, A. Dean; Lee, Kipp; Wellard, Blake; Spallone, Patricia. 2023. New nomenclatural combinations and types for Cactaceae in Utah, Haseltonia, 30: 6-13.
New combination: Pelecyphora chlorantha (Engelmann) A. D. Stock, Haseltonia, 30: 12.
Basyonym: Mammillaria chlorantha Engelmann in J.T. Rothrock, Rep. U.S. Geogr. Survey, Wheeler 6: 127. 1878.
Coryphantha chlorantha (Engelm.) Britton & Rose, Publ. Carnegie Inst. Washington 248 (4); 43. 1923. Pelycyphora chlorantha (Englm. Ex Wheeler) P. B. Breslin & Majure. Am. J. Bot. 2022: 109: 1472-1487. Publikováno neplatně, chybný basionym. Type: (C. C. Parry s. n. St. George, Utah, May 1874; lectotype by L.D. Benson, Cacti U.S. Can. 961. 1982. At MO, sheet no 20173).
Mammillaria deserti (Engelm.) Bot. of California 2: 449. 1880. Escobaria vivipara var. deserti (Engelm.) Buxb. Oesterr. Bot. Z. 98: 78. 1951. Escobaria vivipara var. deserti (Engelm.) D.R. Hunt. Cact. Succ. J. Gr. Britt. 40: 13, 1978. Coryphantha chlorantha var. deserti (Engelm.) Bakeb., Cactaceae 5: 3003. 1961. Pelecyphora vivipara (in part) (Nutt.) D. Aquino & D. Sanchez. Phytokeys 188: 137. 2022.
Type: United States, California, at Ivanpah, 30 miles northeast of San Bernardino, S. B. Parrish 455.
Lectotype: (first step), designated by Benson, Cact. U.S. Canada: 961. 1982: MO (22671690; (second step) sheet no. 2017375 at MO, by A. M. Salywon & W. C. Hodgson; isolectotypes: DS, F MO [2 sheets], NY, PH).
It follows from the above combination that the transfer of the genus Escobaria to the genus Pelecyphora (see Sánchez et al. 2022) does not mark the end of the name changes. As I have already pointed out in Info 027, this entire 2022 paper lacks depth and appears merely to be an attempt to secure priority in the description of taxa. The structure of the genus is not elaborated upon, and the merging of certain generally accepted species is not commented on in any way. It is therefore no surprise that new name combinations are beginning to appear. One of these is the separation of a plant originally named Escobaria (Coryphantha) chloranta, or, as some botanists refer to it, Escobaria deserti. In the work by Sánchez et al. (2022) is listed solely as a synonym of Pelecyphora vivipara.
The combination of the taxon E. chlorantha / deserti into the genus Pelecyphora was published by A. Dean Stock in 2023 in the journal Haseltonia 30 (Stock et al. 2023). In addition to the necessary details relating to the plant's reclassification, I was also struck by the section justifying the priority of the name chlorantha, with which I agree. It states " These two collections were at the northern and southern extremes of the range of the species and the two taxa have frequently been treated as separate populations at various taxonomic levels. Several authors have used the species name deserti for this population, ignoring the fact that the name chlorantha was used two years prior by the same author". A. D. Stock then justified the reclassification of the taxon into the genus Pelecyphora by stating that "the genus Pelecyphora was published in 1843 by Ehrenburg, while Escobaria was published in 1923, 80 years later, by Britton & Rose. As with the name chlorantha, Pelecyphora has priority of publication according to the Principle III. of the International Code of Nomenclature (Turland et al. 2018)."
On the escobaria.cz website, the name Pelecyphora chlorantha will, for the time being, be listed as a synonym of Escobaria chlorantha.
Jan Mynář
Literature
Breslin, P. B.; Wojciechowski, M. F.; Majure, L. C. 2022. Remarkably rapid, recent diversification of Cochemiea and Mammillaria in the Baja California, Mexico region, American Journal of Botany, 109(9): 1472-1487.
Sánchez, D.; Vázquez-Benítez, B.; Vázquez-Sánchez, M.; Aquino, D.; Arias, S. 2022. Phylogenetic relationships in Coryphantha and implications on Pelecyphora and Escobaria (Cacteae, Cactoideae, Cactaceae), PhytoKeys, 188: 115-165.
Stock, A. D.; Lee, K.; Wellard, B.; Spallone, P. 2023. New nomenclatural combinations and types for Cactaceae in Utah, Haseltonia, 30: 6-13.