Schlumbergera  kautskyi (Horobin & MeMillan) N.P. Taylor in Bradleya 9: 90 (1991).

  • Stem Segments - variable in shape and toothing
  • Flower - smaller than in S. truncata, 50 x 27 mm, cyclamen-purple 
  • Pericarpel - 4 angled, reddish-green 12 x 5 - 6 mm
  • Fruit - yellow-green when ripe with reddish tinge, 4-angled, 25 x 19 mm
  • Seeds - very dark brown, almost black, 150 per fruit. 1 x 1 mm

Flowering period in Northern Hemisphere Oct to Nov

DISTRIBUTION. Brazil (S Espirito Santo): epilithic at 900-1300 m altitude.Municipio Domingos Martins, Pico da Pedra Azul, also in the Municipios of Alfredo  Chaves, and Sao Bento de Urania

See Taylor, in Bradleya 9 for discussion on the ratio­nale behind the recognition of this taxon as a species.         

In its sharply toothed stem-segments, angular pericarpel, small, weakly zygomorphic flowers and elongate yellowish fruits this taxon shows affinities with all three species referable to the flat-segmented 'S. truncata group' (S. truncata, S. russelliana, S. orssichiana). Nevertheless, the combination of charac­ters shown by S. kautskyi is unique, and its inclusion in S. truncata at infraspecific rank, as favoured by Horobin & McMillan,  tends to weaken the justification for recognition of more than a single species in the complex as a whole. To be consistent, it seems preferable to recognize S. kautskyi as a separate species. According to Horobin & McMillan (l.c. 1990) it is self-fertile but cannot be crossed with either S. truncata or S. orssichiana. It is known from three localities in Espirito Santo and is considerably disjunct from the nearest populations of S. truncata and S. russelliana in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

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