Corryocactus aureus

Accepted name and former treatments

POWO accepts the name Corryocactus aureus. Its synonyms include Cactus aureus, Cleistocactus aureus, Erdisia meyenii, Cereus meyenii, Corryocactus acervatus and C. cuajonesensis. Historical names retain information on former divisions of the genus and may refer to the same current account. [2-WWW]

The 2017 Arequipa catalogue still recognised C. acervatus separately. Its authors noted similarity to C. aureus and difficulty comparing flowers because the original description of the first name lacked complete floral features. The atlas's current treatment unites these names following POWO. Variation in former descriptions remains associated with specific material and sites. [Pauca Tanco and Quipuscoa Silvestre 2017, dyskusja taksonomii Corryocactus] [2-WWW]

A colony connected by underground stems

The plant forms underground branches and short, vertical above-ground stems. In Ostolaza's monograph, these are around 30 cm long, 3–5 cm in diameter and have 5–8 ribs. Flowers were described as yellow-orange to red-orange, around 4 cm long, and fruits as greenish to reddish. This growth form differs clearly from the tall, massively branched columns of C. brevistylus. [Ostolaza Nano 2014, p. 444, 446]

Underground branches join short above-ground stems into clumps. Ostolaza describes this growth form as colonial, and the Arequipa field catalogue confirms the presence of underground stems. The surface of such a colony can therefore show many upright stems of one branched plant. [Ostolaza Nano 2014, Ostolaza p. 444, katalog p. 454] [Pauca Tanco and Quipuscoa Silvestre 2017, Ostolaza p. 444, katalog p. 454]

Habitat and field material

The species is native to Peru. The Arequipa catalogue describes its sites in the Arequipa and Moquegua regions, in dry valleys, scrub and on rocky slopes, at elevations of 2000–3000 m above sea level. The entry links data to herbarium collections, including Hutchison 7224, Ritter 269 and Rose 18801. This is the documented scope of the catalogue material, distinct from the current decision on taxon boundaries. [2-WWW] [Pauca Tanco and Quipuscoa Silvestre 2017, p. 454]

Light triggers germination

Seeds from Arequipa were tested on 1% agar. Each treatment included five dishes of 25 seeds. Incubation lasted 30 days at temperatures of 18–25°C. The illuminated treatment received 12 hours of light daily, while the dark treatment was covered with a double layer of aluminium foil. Radicle emergence to a length of 2 mm was counted as germination. [Jara-Peña et al. 2024, pp. 6]

In light, 89.6% of seeds germinated, compared with 0% in darkness. This sample's response corresponds to positive photoblastism. Seeds of C. aureus were not among those subjected to scarification in this experiment. The result concerns germination. Subsequent seedling care and survival in the natural habitat were not assessed. [Jara-Peña et al. 2024, p. 6, Table 2]