Scientific taxonomy article
Accepted name and nomenclatural record
Kew POWO accepts Maihueniopsis clavarioides with the author citation (Otto ex Pfeiff.) E.F.Anderson; IPNI confirms the first-publication record as “Cact. Succ. J. (Los Angeles) 71: 325 (1999)”.12 The native distribution is Mendoza and San Juan, Argentina. The native range is associated with high-elevation cold-dry Andean habitats; nursery origin is not evidence about wild populations.
Classification and production boundary
The live lineage is species → Maihueniopsis → Cactaceae → Caryophyllales → Plantae. This package owns only the existing species node and its direct Maihueniopsis genus relationship; it creates or updates no genus, family, order or kingdom node. A subterranean tuberous root, short club- or finger-like stem segments, areole and spine pattern, flowers, seeds and documented provenance should be evaluated together.
Identification cannot be reduced to one product photograph, body colour or segment dimensions altered by cultivation. Underground organs, segment form, areoles and spines, flowers, seeds, range and documented provenance should be evaluated together.
Synonymy and canonical boundary
The current Kew surface maintains 15 nomenclatural synonym records. Kew maintains 15 synonyms: six homotypic combinations and nine heterotypic historical names. Former combinations in Puna, Opuntia, Tephrocactus and other genera are not separate accepted-species routes. Homotypic names share a nomenclatural type; heterotypic names represent historical opinions based on other types. None creates a separate accepted product, botanical or taxonomy route.
Synonyms support search and literature retrieval. The synonym sets of the three Maihueniopsis species are not mixed, and accepted ancestor names are never inserted as synonyms.
Range and conservation scope
The native distribution is recorded as Mendoza and San Juan, Argentina.1 Commercial inventory, nursery origin and retail price are not measures of wild-population status.
The global field is NT.3 The live LC value is corrected to the official global IUCN NT; Near Threatened concerns wild populations, not commercial inventory.
Editorial ownership boundary
Product name and copy, price, stock, SKU, images, variants, categories, common names, slugs and the product-to-botanical link are not changed by this taxonomy-only source. Live toxicity, difficulty and light enums are carried forward exactly; watering, temperature and soil metrics are omitted from the curated source and preserved from live data. Legacy pricing research and Google-grounding metadata are not reused as scientific authority.
References
- Plants of the World Online. “Maihueniopsis clavarioides (Otto ex Pfeiff.) E.F.Anderson” Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Accessed: 2026-08-06. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A1093510-2 ↩
- International Plant Names Index. “Maihueniopsis clavarioides.” Accessed: 2026-08-06. https://www.ipni.org/n/1093510-2 ↩
- IUCN Red List. “Maihueniopsis clavarioides global conservation assessment.” Accessed: 2026-08-06. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/151947/121514436 ↩
