Fruits and dispersal by birds
In a Brazilian dispersal study, white fruits contained numerous small seeds in watery mucilaginous pulp. Seeds passed by Euphonia and Tangara birds germinated more frequently than manually depulped controls. Average values after bird passage were about 99%, compared with about 57% in the control. These results concern the collected material at 25 °C over a 30-day observation period, rather than a fixed germination capacity of the species [Guaraldo et al. 2013].
Seed transport and placement on a support are separate components of this process. Captive Euphonia deposited sticky seeds on perches while rubbing the cloacal region against them. This behaviour may direct seeds towards sites suitable for an epiphyte. Establishing its effectiveness in a forest also requires observations of attachment, rooting and subsequent seedling survival. These relationships are explored in the article on the route from fruit to young cactus [Guaraldo et al. 2013].
Germination under changing conditions
The 2026 experiment examined Rhipsalis baccifera subsp. baccifera. Seeds germinated well at moderate temperatures, but none began germination during the initial 60 days at a constant 35 °C. Some germinated after transfer to 25 °C. A separate PEG series at 25 °C showed inhibition by reduced water availability. These results concern a particular subspecies and seed batch. They do not establish cold or drought tolerance for all adult plants carrying this broadly applied species name [Gonçalo et al. 2026].
The chloroplast genome and distributional history
Oulo and colleagues sequenced the plastome, the chloroplast genome, of material from Kasigau Forest in Kenya. The sequence contained 122 333 base pairs and numerous gene-order differences relative to available plastomes of other cacti. Such data support the design of studies of relationships and variation. A single plastome compared with a limited set of species does not, however, resolve the route of intercontinental dispersal. The suggested connection between genomic changes and broad distribution remains an interpretation rather than a demonstrated adaptive mechanism [Oulo et al. 2020].
Related articles
Materials from the author's archive
The species also appears in Konrad Szychowski's private material archive [Schumann 1890].
Synonyms and names in the literature
Cassytha baccifera · Rhipsalis cassytha · Cereus baccifer [2-WWW]
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