Escontria

Structure and identification

The tree-like plants develop numerous cylindrical branches with ribs, areoles and spines. Flowers and fruits bear broad, thin bracts, modified leaves with a papery texture. Flowers open during the day, and mature fruits contain juicy red or purple pulp. [Arias et al. 2012]

Position among columnar cacti

The phylogenomic classification published in 2025 retains Escontria within subtribe Echinocereinae. The nuclear-gene analysis places it in a group that includes Isolatocereus, Myrtillocactus and Polaskia. This framework relates morphological characters to molecular evidence. [de Vos et al. 2025]

A historical name for another species

The name Escontria lepidantha, found in older literature, is now a synonym of Lemaireocereus lepidanthus. Findings concerning that plant belong with Lemaireocereus. The current circumscription of Escontria comprises E. chiotilla and its synonyms. [2-WWW] [2-WWW]

Hundreds of litres of water in one cactus Cacti on the branches of dry shrubland ×Polascontria and gene flow between genera

Species and subspecies of the genus

Species account

Escontria chiotilla

Escontria chiotilla forms branching crowns above a short trunk. It grows in central and southwestern Mexico, where its fruits, known as jiotilla, are harvested and subject to traditional selection. [2-WWW] [Oaxaca-Villa et al. 2006]

Czytaj profile

Sources for this account

[2-WWW]Source website

Plants of the World Online — Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

https://powo.science.kew.org/

Accepted names, synonyms and distribution. A citation beside a taxon leads to its record.

Accessed 2026-10-08.

Book2012Excerpt consulted

Cactaceae

[Arias S., Gama-López S., Guzmán-Cruz L. U., Vázquez-Benítez B., Cactaceae, Flora del Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán, fascículo 95, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Biología, 2012, s. 1–235, wyd. 2]

The regional cactus flora of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán valley contains keys, morphological descriptions, nomenclatural types, herbarium specimens, habitats and phenology. The treatment of Mammillaria sphacelata, now Oehmea sphacelata, presents stem and spine variation, flower, fruit and seed structure, and diagnoses of subspecies sphacelata and viperina. It gives limestone habitats in oak forests, seasonally leafless tropical forests and dry scrub. The regional flora provides keys, morphological descriptions, habitats, phenology and herbarium records for cacti of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley. Accounts of Escontria, Lemaireocereus and Stenocereus dumortieri, now Isolatocereus dumortieri, describe stems, spines, flowers, fruits and seeds. The distribution and nomenclature of these historical accounts are compared with current POWO.

GenusDistributionEscontriaIsolatocereusLemaireocereusMammillariaOehmea

Edition description ↗

Article2025

Phylogenomics and classification of Cactaceae based on hundreds of nuclear genes

de Vos J. M., Eggli U., Nyffeler R., Larridon I., McGinnie C., Epitawalage N., Maurin O., Forest F., Baker W. J., Phylogenomics and classification of Cactaceae based on hundreds of nuclear genes, Plant Systematics and Evolution, 2025, 311(5):28, doi: 10.1007/s00606-025-01948-z

The study analyses hundreds of nuclear genes and their agreement in reconstructing Cactaceae relationships. It presents a revised classification of subfamilies, tribes and genera with morphological descriptions.

GenusPhysiology and anatomyAcanthocalyciumBlossfeldiaCalymmanthiumCopiapoaEscontriaIsolatocereusLemaireocereusLeuenbergeriaLophocereusLymanbensoniaMarginatocereusPereskiaSalmonopuntia

DOI ↗Article or source page ↗