Melocactus

Morphological Summary

Genus of globose cacti characterized by the development of a CEPHALIUM — a specialized woolly and bristly structure that grows at the apex of mature plants (after 5–15 years) from which flowers and fruits emerge. It is the most diagnostic feature of the genus and one of the most fascinating in the entire Cactaceae family. Contains ~35–40 species distributed in the Caribbean, coasts of Central and South America (Colombia, Venezuela, NE Brazil, Peru, Bolivia). Name derived from Latin melo (melon) + cactus, for the shape of its fruits. Historically the first cactus described by Linnaeus (1753, as Cactus melocactus).