Pilosocereus azulensis

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
PLANTAE TRACHEOPHYTA MAGNOLIOPSIDA CARYOPHYLLALES CACTACEAE

Scientific Name: Pilosocereus azulensis
Species Authority: N.P.Taylor & Zappi

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria: Critically Endangered D ver 3.1
Year Published: 2002
Annotations:
Needs updating
Assessor/s: Taylor, N.P.
Reviewer/s: Stuppy, W. & Taylor, N.P. (Cacti & Succulent Plant Red List Authority)
Contributor/s:
Justification:
This species is currently known from only a small remnant of dry forest vegetation, which is being cleared for agriculture and charcoal production. Only three collections have been recorded to date and two of these are poorly localized. Further study of this plant and its habitat is urgently required.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:known only from the region of Pedra Azul, Minas Gerais (and from perhaps the same area recorded as a vaguely localized collection from south of Vitória da Conquista, Bahia). Endemic to the core area within Eastern Brazil. A single living specimen of this taxon has been observed in semi-shade of dry forest (agreste), sympatric with Pilosocereus floccosus subsp. quadricostatus. Although flowering material has yet to be examined, vegetative morphology and seeds suggest that this species belongs to the P. arrabidae Group, which is otherwise unrepresented in the region of the Rio Jequitinhonha drainage, where all other Groups in Subg. Pilosocereus are present. The alternative explanation, that it is a hybrid involving P. floccosus subsp. quadricostatus and one of the other Pilosocereus from the area (eg. P. multicostatus, P. pachycladus), does not seem plausible given the characters it displays.
Countries:
Native:
Brazil (Minas Gerais)
Range Map:Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population Trend: Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology: South-eastern caatinga (inselberg) element: associated with gneissic inselbergs in caatinga-agreste.
Systems: Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s): Habitat loss.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions: Listed on CITES App. II.

Bibliography [top]

IUCN. 2002. 2002 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 8 October 2002.

Taylor, N.P. and Zappi, D.C. 1997. Nomenclatural adjustments and novelties in Brazilian Cactaceae. Cactaceae Consensus Initiatives 3: 7–8.

Taylor, N.P. and Zappi, D.C. 2004. Cacti of Eastern Brazil. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Citation: Taylor, N.P. 2002. Pilosocereus azulensis. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 26 May 2013.
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