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Plant Atlas |
A New Cactus from Baja California, Mexico
In June 2001, Curator of Botany Jon Rebman, with his colleague Dr. Donald Pinkava of Arizona State University, published another new species of cholla cactus (Cylindropuntia) in a paper entitled "Cylindropuntia delgadilloana, a new cholla (Cactaceae) from Baja California, Mexico, in the Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Sciences (vol 33(2): 154-156). Rebman discovered this new species during his taxonomic research on the genus Cylindropuntia of Lower California, Mexico, which has revealed several new chollas from the region. Cylindropuntia delgadilloana grows on the eastern slopes of the Sierra San Pedro Mártir and near Laguna Diablo in the San Felipe desert region and is endemic to northeastern Baja California. This cholla is a large, robust species related to C. rosarica and to the C. californica complex.
This new cactus is being named in honor of Dr. José Delgadillo, a botanist and professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC) in Ensenada, and also a Research Associate of the Botany Department at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Dr. Delgadillo is a good friend of Rebman and has played an integral part in facilitating his research on the cacti of Lower California. He has also participated with Rebman on various collaborative floristic projects throughout the Baja California peninsula, e.g., flora of the Sierra San Pedro Mártir, rediscovery of a presumed extinct cactus (Echinocereus lindsayi), and development of a cactus database for Baja California. The two botanists have joined efforts several times on plant collecting trips including the Lindblad Binational Natural History Expedition of 1997, organized by the Biodiversity Research Center of the Californias (BRCC). Rebman and Delgadillo are also the co-founders of a regional, binational, botanical symposium entitled The Baja California Botanical Symposium, which rotates between both American and Mexican institutions (e.g., San Diego Natural History Museum, UABC, and the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste in La Paz) and is a forum to present all aspects of botany related to Baja California and adjacent areas. The BRCC will be organizing the fifth symposium of this series to be held at the Museum in 2002. Text and photographs by Jon P. Rebman, Ph.D. Search | Site Index | Home | Museum Guide (PDF) |
