© Valentino Vallicelli
Endangered
CITES App. II
Primary
Astrophytum ornatum f. dichotomicum
Astrophytum ornatum f. dichotomicum
Family
Cactaceae
Genus
Species
Astrophytum ornatum f. dichotomicum
Author
hort.
Chinese genus
星球属
Chinese name
-
Accepted
DescriptionEdit description
Description
Dichotomous branching (forking or dividing into two or more parts) is not a common occurrence in cacti in general, and is especially rare in Astrophytum. However dichotomy happens for some unexplained reason with a very low frequency in Astrophytum too. What is interesting about this cactus is that it began as a single head, and after a more or less long period the stem apex starts dividing twice, forming what will be two branches. And the repeated process of dichotomous branching may lead to the formation of a odd multi-branched plant.