Classification of The Cactaceae

Classification Of The Cactaceae

In 1984, the International Organization for Succulent Plant Study set up a working party, now called the International Cactaceae Systematics Group, to produce a consensus classification of the cactus family, down to the level of genus. Their classification has been used as the basis for systems published since the mid 1990s. Treatments in the 21st century have generally divided the family into around 125–130 genera and 1,400–1,500 species, which are then arranged in a number of tribes and subfamilies. However, subsequent molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that a very high proportion of the higher taxa (genera, tribes and subfamilies) are not monophyletic, i.e. they do not contain all of the descendants of a common ancestor. As of March 2012, the internal classification of the family Cactaceae is uncertain and likely to change. A possible classification incorporating many of the insights from the molecular studies was produced by Nyffeler and Eggli in 2010.