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  "url": "https://botanai.app/plants/melocactus-macracanthos/",
  "last_modified": "2025-11-13",
  "id": {
    "slug": "melocactus-macracanthos",
    "wfo": "wfo-0001289744",
    "inat_taxon_id": 440360
  },
  "name": {
    "scientific": "Melocactus macracanthos",
    "authorship": "(Salm-Dyck) Link & Otto",
    "genus": "Melocactus",
    "epithet": "macracanthos",
    "family": "Cactaceae",
    "rank": "species",
    "taxonomic_status": "accepted",
    "accepted_according_to": "World Flora Online Plant List, 2026-06",
    "is_homonym": false,
    "published_in": "in Verh. Vereins Beförd. Gartenbaues Königl. Preuss. Staaten 3: 418–419. 1827.",
    "protologue_url": "https://caryophyllales.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/67c8aaf2-75da-4f19-b1c4-36fb5d26aa85",
    "common": {
      "preferred": null,
      "english": [],
      "source": null
    },
    "synonyms": [
      {
        "name": "Cactus macracanthos",
        "authorship": "Salm-Dyck"
      },
      {
        "name": "Cactus macracanthus",
        "authorship": "Salm-Dyck"
      },
      {
        "name": "Cactus microcephalus",
        "authorship": "(Miq.) Borg"
      },
      {
        "name": "Cactus parvispinus",
        "authorship": "Haw."
      },
      {
        "name": "Cactus pyramidalis",
        "authorship": "Salm-Dyck"
      },
      {
        "name": "Cactus zuccarinii",
        "authorship": "(Miq.) Borg"
      },
      {
        "name": "Echinocactus armatus",
        "authorship": "Salm-Dyck"
      },
      {
        "name": "Echinocactus fischeri",
        "authorship": "Pfeiff."
      },
      {
        "name": "Echinocactus parvispinus",
        "authorship": "(Haw.) DC."
      },
      {
        "name": "Echinocactus salmianus",
        "authorship": "Link & Otto"
      },
      {
        "name": "Echinocactus spina-christi",
        "authorship": "Zucc. ex Pfeiff."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus aciculosus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus aciculosus var. adauctus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus albispinus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus albispinus f. quadrispina",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus angusticostatus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus appropinquatus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus approximatus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus arcuatus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus argenteus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus argenteus var. tenuispina",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus armatus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus baarscanus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus baarsianus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus bargei",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus bozsingianus",
        "authorship": "Antesb."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus buysianus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus capillaris",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus citrispinus",
        "authorship": "Antesb."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus compactus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus contortus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus cordatus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus cornutus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus cylindricus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus dilatatus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus eburneus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus eburneus f. plurispina",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus elongatus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus euryacanthus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus evertszianus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus extensus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus ferox",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus ferox",
        "authorship": "Pfeiff. ex C.F.Först."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus ferus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus firmus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus flammeus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus flavispinus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus flexilis",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus flexus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus gilvispinus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus gilvispinus var. planispinus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus gracilis",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus grandis",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus grandispinus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus hexacanthus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus inclinatus",
        "authorship": "Antesb."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus incurvus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus inflatus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus intermedius",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus intermedius var. laticostatus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus intermedius var. rotundatus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus intermedius var. tenuispinus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus inversus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus laui",
        "authorship": "Antesb."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus lehmannii",
        "authorship": "Miq."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus leucacanthus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus limis",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus lutescens",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus macracanthos f. elegans",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus macracanthos var. miacanthus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus martialis",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus microcarpus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus microcephalus",
        "authorship": "Miq."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus microcephalus var. olivascens",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus nanus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus obliquus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus obliquus f. quadrispina",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus obovatus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus ovatus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus pachycentrus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus parvispinus",
        "authorship": "Haw."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus parvispinus",
        "authorship": "Salm-Dyck ex DC."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus parvispinus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus patens",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus pentacanthus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus pinguis",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus pinguis var. areolosus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus pinguis var. laticostatus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus pinguis var. planispinus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus pinguis var. tenuissimus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus pulvinosus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus pusillus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus pyramidalis",
        "authorship": "Link & Otto"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus pyramidalis var. compressus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus radiatus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rectiusculus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus reticulatus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus reversus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus roseus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rotifer",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rotifer var. angustior",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rotula var. angusticostatus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rotula var. validispinus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rubellus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rudis",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rufispinus",
        "authorship": "Bertol."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rufispinus f. aplanatus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rufispinus f. crassispinus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rufispinus f. curvispinus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rufispinus f. elongatus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rufispinus f. laticostatus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rufispinus f. paucispinus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rufispinus f. pluriareolatus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus rufispinus f. pluricostatus-prurispinus",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
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        "name": "Melocactus salmianus",
        "authorship": "Link & Otto"
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        "name": "Melocactus salmianus var. adauctus",
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        "name": "Melocactus salmianus var. contractus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
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        "name": "Melocactus salmianus var. spectabilis",
        "authorship": "Valck.Sur."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus sordidus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
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      {
        "name": "Melocactus spatanginus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
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        "name": "Melocactus spatanginus f. tenuispinus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus spatangus",
        "authorship": "Pfeiff."
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus stellatus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
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        "name": "Melocactus stramineus f. pluricostatus",
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      },
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        "name": "Melocactus tenuissimus",
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        "name": "Melocactus trachycephalus",
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        "name": "Melocactus trichacanthus",
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        "name": "Melocactus trigonaster",
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        "name": "Melocactus trigonus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus uncinatus",
        "authorship": "Suringar"
      },
      {
        "name": "Melocactus zuccarinii",
        "authorship": "Miq."
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        "source_url": "https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/9a00c29d-fb4b-4d6a-b7c7-684f3fa26611",
        "observed_on": "2021-04-26",
        "lat": 12.209,
        "lon": -68.319,
        "original": {
          "width": 768,
          "height": 1024
        },
        "widths": [
          400,
          768
        ],
        "urls": {
          "avif": {
            "400": "https://img.botanai.app/p/123689835/r1/400.avif",
            "768": "https://img.botanai.app/p/123689835/r1/768.avif"
          },
          "jpeg": {
            "400": "https://img.botanai.app/p/123689835/r1/400.jpg",
            "768": "https://img.botanai.app/p/123689835/r1/768.jpg"
          }
        },
        "attribution": "Jean-Paul Boerekamps, CC0 1.0, via iNaturalist"
      },
      {
        "photo_id": 47583034,
        "license": "CC-BY",
        "license_name": "CC BY 4.0",
        "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
        "derivatives_restricted": false,
        "creator": "Eric Knight",
        "creator_url": "https://www.inaturalist.org/people/knightericm",
        "source_url": "https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/92b9f371-2b5f-4590-b19f-7a8d50d1be52",
        "observed_on": "2019-08-06",
        "lat": 12.612,
        "lon": -70.044,
        "original": {
          "width": 768,
          "height": 1024
        },
        "widths": [
          400,
          768
        ],
        "urls": {
          "avif": {
            "400": "https://img.botanai.app/p/47583034/r1/400.avif",
            "768": "https://img.botanai.app/p/47583034/r1/768.avif"
          },
          "jpeg": {
            "400": "https://img.botanai.app/p/47583034/r1/400.jpg",
            "768": "https://img.botanai.app/p/47583034/r1/768.jpg"
          }
        },
        "attribution": "Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist"
      }
    ]
  },
  "native_range": {
    "scheme": "TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, level 3",
    "source": "Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16)",
    "license": "CC BY 3.0",
    "excludes": [
      "introduced",
      "extinct",
      "location_doubtful"
    ],
    "codes": [
      "ARU",
      "NLA"
    ],
    "regions": [
      {
        "code": "ARU",
        "name": "Aruba",
        "continent": "SOUTHERN AMERICA",
        "region": "Caribbean"
      },
      {
        "code": "NLA",
        "name": "Netherlands Antilles",
        "continent": "SOUTHERN AMERICA",
        "region": "Caribbean"
      }
    ]
  },
  "phenology": {
    "n": 5,
    "n_annotated": 9,
    "sufficient": false,
    "doi": null,
    "source": "GBIF SQL download of iNaturalist Research-grade Observations",
    "quality_grade": "research (guaranteed upstream by iNaturalist at export)",
    "fields": {
      "by_month": "observations found IN FLOWER, by month (Jan..Dec)",
      "annotated_by_month": "observations in which a human recorded the reproductive state at all, by month. This is the denominator, and it includes the records that said \"no flowers or fruits\".",
      "share": "by_month / annotated_by_month. null where too few plants were examined to state a proportion.",
      "ci": "95% Wilson score interval on share.",
      "peak_month": "the month with the highest SHARE, not the highest count."
    }
  },
  "traits": {
    "lifeform": "succulent subshrub",
    "climate": "seasonally dry tropical"
  },
  "climate_envelope": {
    "mean_annual_temp_c": {
      "p5": 26.1,
      "median": 26.5,
      "p95": 26.6
    },
    "temp_seasonality": {
      "p5": 68.2,
      "median": 69.8,
      "p95": 71.8
    },
    "max_temp_warmest_month_c": {
      "p5": 27.7,
      "median": 28.2,
      "p95": 28.2
    },
    "min_temp_coldest_month_c": {
      "p5": 24.6,
      "median": 25,
      "p95": 25.1
    },
    "annual_precip_mm": {
      "p5": 512.1,
      "median": 616.5,
      "p95": 721.1
    },
    "precip_seasonality": {
      "p5": 64.5,
      "median": 66.2,
      "p95": 70.1
    },
    "precip_driest_quarter_mm": {
      "p5": 51.4,
      "median": 63.3,
      "p95": 73.1
    },
    "n": 425,
    "units": {
      "mean_annual_temp_c": "degrees Celsius",
      "min_temp_coldest_month_c": "degrees Celsius (mean daily MINIMUM of the coldest month)",
      "max_temp_warmest_month_c": "degrees Celsius (mean daily MAXIMUM of the warmest month)",
      "annual_precip_mm": "millimetres per year",
      "precip_driest_quarter_mm": "millimetres in the driest quarter"
    },
    "source": "CHELSA V2.1 climatologies 1981-2010, 30 arcsec",
    "citation": "Karger, D.N. et al. (2017) Climatologies at high resolution for the earth's land surface areas. Scientific Data 4, 170122.",
    "occurrences": "iNaturalist Research-grade Observations",
    "occurrences_doi": null,
    "method": "Climate sampled at every georeferenced research-grade observation of the species. Reported as the 5th to 95th percentile across 425 of them. Species with fewer than 30 georeferenced observations get no envelope.",
    "is_hardiness_zone": false,
    "hardiness_zone_note": "min_temp_coldest_month_c is NOT a USDA hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual EXTREME minimum temperature; this is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is typically about 16 C warmer. Do not present one as the other."
  },
  "identification": {
    "on_device_model": {
      "model": "Google AIY plants V1 (TFLite, 2,102 classes)",
      "identifies_this_species": false
    },
    "in_accuracy_benchmark": false,
    "benchmark_url": "https://botanai.app/accuracy/",
    "confused_with": []
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "name": "World Flora Online Plant List",
      "note": "accepted name, authority, classification",
      "license": "CC0",
      "url": "https://www.worldfloraonline.org/",
      "retrieved": "2026-07-12"
    },
    {
      "name": "iNaturalist",
      "note": "photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only",
      "license": "per photograph",
      "url": "https://www.inaturalist.org/",
      "retrieved": "2026-06-27"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16)",
      "note": "native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form",
      "license": "CC BY 3.0",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.15468/6h8ucr",
      "retrieved": "2026-06-04"
    }
  ],
  "gaps": [
    {
      "field": "care",
      "status": "not_published",
      "reason": "Not published anywhere on this site. Every care claim we could make cheaply would be an unsourced enum, which is what the previous version of this site did and why it was deleted."
    },
    {
      "field": "toxicity",
      "status": "not_published",
      "reason": "Not published. The widely copied list is a copyrighted compilation restricted to noncommercial use, and we will not scrape it. A sourced toxicity dataset is being built from primary literature and is not ready."
    },
    {
      "field": "botanical_review",
      "status": "not_sourced",
      "reason": "No page on this site has been reviewed by a named botanist. The determination label says so, on every page."
    },
    {
      "field": "common_name",
      "status": "not_sourced",
      "reason": "No vernacular name for this taxon in Wikidata (P1843) or iNaturalist. We do not invent one, and we do not present the scientific name as though it were a common name."
    },
    {
      "field": "hardiness_zone",
      "status": "not_published",
      "reason": "Not published for any species. A USDA hardiness zone is the average annual EXTREME minimum temperature, and we hold the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and typically about 16 C warmer. Presenting one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a zone at all."
    },
    {
      "field": "phenology",
      "status": "insufficient_evidence",
      "reason": "Only 5 annotated flowering records, below our threshold of 30. A curve fitted to a dozen records is noise, so we do not draw one."
    }
  ],
  "license": {
    "data": "CC BY 4.0",
    "attribution": "BotanAI, https://botanai.app/plants/melocactus-macracanthos/",
    "note": "This document is licensed CC BY 4.0. The PHOTOGRAPHS it links are licensed individually and separately: each carries its own license and license_url, and those terms govern. Underlying taxonomy is CC0 (World Flora Online); native range is CC BY 3.0 (Kew)."
  }
}