Identification and typification of Opuntia aulacothele and a new combination in the genus Tephrocactus (Cactaceae, Opuntioideae)

Abstract

Opuntia aulacothele, described by Roland-Gosselin in 1904, is a name that has not been used for many years. The original description corresponds with the species known for long time as Opuntia weberi, described by Spegazzini in 1905, so it has no priority over O. aulacothele. The geographic origin of O. aulacothele was mentioned as ‘Argentina, San Rafael’, but the province where that town is located was not mentioned and was later interpreted to be a large city of the same name in Mendoza. This paper provides the identity of O. aulacothele, which is transferred to the genus Tephrocactus, T. aulacothele, designating a neotype for it. Also, Tephrocactus weberi var. deminutus is transferred to T. aulacothele subsp. deminutus, whereas T. abditus is considered a synonym of this last taxon. Cytogenetic, morphoanatomic and molecular data have been included to give additional information about the species.