Dispersal and germination
Guaraldo and colleagues compared manually depulped seeds with seeds recovered after feeding birds. For Rhipsalis burchellii, the highest final germination, about 73%, followed passage through the tested Turdus. About 42% germinated after Euphonia passage and about 28% in the control. These are means for particular material observed for 30 days at 25 °C. The ranking differed from the response of Rhipsalis pachyptera [Guaraldo et al. 2013].
High germination after thrush passage describes one component of dispersal quality. An epiphyte also needs its seed to be deposited at a suitable site. Bird behaviour, the stickiness of material surrounding seeds and subsequent branch conditions form separate stages. Laboratory results are therefore most informative alongside observations of deposition sites, rather than being equated with the number of new plants established on trees [Guaraldo et al. 2013].
Reassessment of historical identifications
In the Minas Gerais revision, specimens previously labelled Rhipsalis burchellii were redetermined as Rhipsalis juengeri. The authors therefore did not confirm regional occurrence of Rhipsalis burchellii from that material. These corrections concern particular specimens, while both names remain distinct accepted species in POWO. Retaining plant provenance and floral characters helps ensure that cultivation and research information are assigned to the appropriate account [Tortorelli et al. 2025] [2-WWW].
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
Erythrorhipsalis burchellii · Hariota cribrata · Erythrorhipsalis cribrata · Rhipsalis cribrata var. filiformis [2-WWW]
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