Rhipsalis lindbergiana K.Schumann in Martius, Fl. Bras. 4(2): 271. 1890

Desc from B&R 1923

  • Plant - very much branched, hanging from tree-trunks in great festoons, 1 to 2 meters long;
  • Joints - elongated, 3 to 5 mm. in diameter;
  • Areoles - filled with hairs and 2 bristles;
  • Flowers - numerous, lateral, pinkish;
  • Ovary - naked or nearly so;
  • Fruit - light red, globose, 2 to 3 mm. in diameter, 16 to 20-seeded.
  • Type locality - Near the city of Rio de Janeiro.

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Three photos copyright and courtesy of Tropiflora Nursery, Sarasota, Fla., April 2018.

DISTRIBUTION. Brazil (E Pernambuco, Sergipe, E Bahia, Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, E Sao Paulo): epiphyte in high restinga, Atlantic, brejo and caatinga-agreste forest, near sea level to at least 900 m altitude.

Notes from Bradleya 13 (1995): This species is difficult to distinguish from R. baccifera in the herbarium, but quite distinct as a living plant, its stem-segments not being regularly differentiated into long extension shoots and much shorter secondary segments, their indeterminate growth terminating without the formation of a composite areole. Unlike R. baccifera, the perianth of its flower is longer than the pericarpel and its fruits are generally smaller. Also, its stems are mostly thicker, becoming longitudinally ridged when dried for the herbarium.

An exceptionally thick-stemmed form was described by Lofgren (1918) as R. densiareolata, but this appears to be connected to typical R. lindbergiana by intermediates and was soon synonymized by Britton & Rose (1923).

Although it has usually been misidentified as R. baccifera, this species is in fact the commonest Rhipsalis in and around the city of Rio de Janeiro and is particularly abundant in the Jardim Botanico, where it is sympatric with R. teres. From there it ranges northwards to at least Pernambuco, while its western limit appears to be close to the border between the states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

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Desc from Hunt 2006.

Body pendent up to 4m or more, forming a dense mass of closely adjacent branches, light grey green to dark green; branch segments arising subacrotonically in groups of 1-5, all of indeterminate growth and lacking composite terminal areole, up to 60-90cm x 3-6 (-12)mm, marked with spirals of minute scales; areoles apparent only after flowering, with sparse wool and minute bristles; flowers lateral from erumprnt buds, up to 9mm diam.; tepals 5-9, greenish white; stigma 3-4, 1mm; pericarp green to reddish; fruit 3-5 x 2.5-4mm, white or pink

Rhipsalis lindbergiana K.Schumann in Martius, Fl. Bras. 4(2): 271. 1890.

  • Branches at first erect, soon nodding, later pendulous
  • Joints strongly dichotomously branching, stronger than in Rhipsalis cassyta, in age strictly cylindrical, thickened towards the joints, new tips narrow, clearly grooved.
  • Areoles very close together, sunken, hidden in the cushion shaped scales, for the greater part short tomentose but very frequently ‘something’ filled
  • Scales very wide triangular, blunt, edges with very small persistent hairs and often exposed beneath the flowers, fleshy.
  • Spines mostly 2, exceeding the scales doubly or almost doubly, curved, tubular, the second one shorter than the first.
  • Flowering on juvenile joints from areoles very close together, single, small, from the base of the spines and supported by tomentum.
  • Ovary sunken, drawn close together, globose, glabrous, naked.
  • Parietal placentation strongly prominent below 3-4 locules.
  • Tepals 4, small triangular, slightly acute, fleshy, membranaceous from middle to tip, oblong, blunt, twice exceeding the ovary.
  • Stamens many, a third shorter than the tepals.
  • Style narrow ellipsoid in the thickest part , at the top as many stigmata as placentae barely spreading or divaricate angled
  • Fruit with small soft hairs, somewhat rigid, fleshy, crowned with withering and persistent tepals, more than usual number of seeds.
  • Seed elliptic, tip blunt with small granules
Our plate L111 (habit and analysis)

Rhipsalis cassytha G. v. Beck, Itin. princ. S. – Coburg. t. II. 13. non Gartn.

  • Stems up to 2m long or more, branching from the axilles, hanging from tall trees.
  • Joints 8-12 ,(4 – 16, rarely to 20)cm long, younger ones 4-5, older ones up to 6-7mm diam, when dry dark grey, by no means greenish or pale.
  • Areoles 4-6mm apart, 1-1.5mm diam.
  • Scales 0.5mm long and 1.5mm wide
  • Spines larger ones up to 2, smaller ones to 1.5mm long.
  • Flowers almost from all areoles, bursting out, especially in younger joints.
  • Ovary 1.5mm diam
  • Pericarp sitting upon a wide ovary.
  • Tepals lowest ones 4, slightly fleshy, 0.3 – 0.8 mm long, next 3-4mm long and 1mm or a little wider, probable white or whitish.
  • Stamens 1.5 to 2.5mm long, filament attenuate towards the tip, whitish hyaline, anthers with very small 2 lobes.
  • Style 3-3.5mm long, 0.4 – 0.6mm diam towards the middle, white hyaline, by no means striate, Stigmata to 0.3mm long, sub-conical, converging
  • Fruit turning reddish white, 2mm diam, 16-20 seeds.
  • Seeds turning reddish (Mature? later probably black) 0.6mm long, 0.4mm diam.

Habitat in the Province of Rio de Janeiro near the metropolis: Gaudichaud n. 913, Wawra n. 509, Peckolt, de Neves- Armond; on Mount Corcovado: Riedel; at a place, by no means accurate in the same province: Widgren n. 84

Observation I. The plant that G. v. Beck falsely linked to Rh. cassyta Gartn.differs from all species in the genus with tubular joints by having grooves evident between the areoles. Flowers are distinguished from the former by being small and stigmata very small and not at all spreading. It is held that the grooved joints place it intermediate between Angulatas and Teretes, with which it largely agrees rather than with the former.

Observation II. This species is named after the honourable A G Lindberg etc etc.