Opuntia acanthocarpa

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Cactaceae

Fleshy perennials , shrubs , trees or vines , terrestrial or epiphytic. Stems jointed , terete , globose , flattened, or fluted , mostly leafless and variously spiny . Leaves alternate, flat or subulate to terete, vestigial, or entirely absent; spines, glochids (easily detached, small, bristlelike spines), and flowers always arising from cushionlike, axillary areoles (modified short shoots ) . Flowers solitary, sessile, rarely clustered and stalked (in Pereskia), bisexual , rarely unisexual , actinomorphic or occasionally zygomorphic. Receptacle tube (hypanthium or perianth tube) absent or short to elongate , naked or invested with leaflike bracts, scales , areoles, and hairs , bristles , or spines; perianth segments usually numerous , in a sepaloid to petaloid series. Stamens numerous, variously inserted in throat and tube; anthers 2-loculed, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary (pericarpel) inferior, rarely superior, 1-loculed, with 3 to many parietal (rarely basal) placentas; ovules usually numerous; style 1; stigmas 2 to numerous, papillate , rarely 2-fid. Fruit juicy or dry, naked, scaly , hairy , bristly , or spiny, indehiscent or dehiscent , when juicy then pulp derived from often deliquescent funicles (except in Pereskia) . Seeds usually numerous, often arillate or strophiolate ; embryo curved or rarely straight; endosperm present or absent; cotyledons reduced or vestigial, rarely leaflike.

About 110 genera and more than 1000 species: temperate and tropical America; Rhipsalis baccifera (J. S. Mueller) Stearn native in tropical Africa, Madagascar, Comoros, Mascarenes, and Sri Lanka; some species of other genera now extensively naturalized in the Old World through human agency; more than 60 genera and 600 species cultivated as ornamentals or hedges in China, of which four genera and seven species more or less naturalized.[1]

Genus Opuntia

Trees or shrubs , erect to trailing , usually many branched, sometimes forming clumps or mats; trunk , when present, initially segmented , appearing continuous with age, main axis determinate, usually terete . Stem segments green or sometimes reddish to purple, usually flattened, circular, elliptic , ovate , lanceolate, or obovate to oblanceolate , 2-60(-120) × 1.2-40 cm, nearly smooth to tuberculate , glabrous or pubescent ; areoles usually elliptic, circular, or obovate, 3-8(-10) × 1-7(-10) mm; wool white, gray, or tan to brown, aging white or gray to black. Spines 0-15+ per areole, white, yellow to brown, red-brown to gray, or black, sometimes partly to wholly white chalky (chalkiness disappearing when wet), aging gray to dark brown to black, with epidermis intact, not sheathed, acicular to subulate , sometimes setose or with hairlike bristles , terete to angular-flattened, to 75(-170) mm, tips sometimes paler or yellow. Glochids in adaxial crescent at margin of areole, in tuft or encircling areole margin, white to yellow to brown, or red-brown, aging white to brown or red-brown. Flowers bisexual or sometimes functionally staminate , radially symmetric ; outer tepals green to yellow with margins tinged color of inner tepals; inner tepals pale yellow to orange, pink to red or magenta, rarely white (unicolored) or with base of a different color (bicolored ), oblong to spatulate , emarginate-apiculate; nectar chamber simple , open, not covered by proximal thickening style. Pollen yellow, grains reticulate or foveolate (opuntioid type). Fruits sometimes proliferating (sprouting from another fruit), if fleshy , green, yellow, or red to purple or, if dry, tan to gray, straight, sometimes stipitate , clavate to cylindric , ovoid , or obovoid to subspheric, 10-120 × 8-120 mm, fleshy to juicy or dry, smooth or tuberculate, spineless or spiny , sometimes burlike. Seeds pale yellow to tan or gray, generally circular to reniform , flattened (discoid ) to subspheric, angular to squarish, sometimes warped, 2-7 × 2-7 mm, glabrous, commonly bearing 1-4 large, shallow depressions due to pressures from adjacent developing seeds; girdle protruding 0.3-3.5 mm, forming ridge or flat wing , or not protruding. x = 11.

Species ca. 150 species: widespread in North America, Mexico, West Indies, South America, including the Galápagos Islands; some species introduced to and naturalized in the Old World.

Many taxa are cultivated for ornamental plants , food, and animal fodder . Some species of Opuntia become obnoxious weeds ; some species have been planted in Africa for stabilization of sand dunes.

Many interspecific hybrids are known and have been named; only five are fully treated here; two other named hybrids recognized by the author are briefly described and cross-referenced under putative parent taxa.[2]

Physical Description

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Similar Species

Members of the genus Opuntia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 389 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

O. acanthocarpa (Buckhorn Cholla) · O. acanthocarpa Engelm. & Bigelow var. acanthocarpa Engelm. & Bigelow (Buckhorn Cholla) · O. acanthocarpa Engelm. & Bigelow var. coloradensis L.Benson (Colorado Buckhorn Cholla) · O. acanthocarpa Engelm. & Bigelow var. major (Engelm. & Bigelow) L.Benson (Buckhorn Cholla) · O. acanthocarpa Engelm. & Bigelow var. thornberi (Thornb. & Bonker) L.Benson (Thornber Buckhorn Cholla) · O. acanthocarpa var. acanthocarpa (Buckhorn Cholla) · O. acanthocarpa var. coloradensis (Colorado Buckhorn Cholla) · O. acanthocarpa var. major (Slender Joint Buckhorn Cholla) · O. acanthocarpa var. thornberi (Thornber's Buckhorn Cholla) · O. acaulis (Opuntia) · O. acicularis (Old Man Whiskers) · O. aciculata (Chenille Prickly Pear) · O. aggeria (Big Bend Pricklypear) · O. alko-tuna (Opuntia) · O. amyclaea (Opuntia) · O. anacantha (Opuntia) · O. anacantha var. kiska-loro (Opuntia) · O. anacantha var. retrorsa (Opuntia) · O. anacantha var. utikilio (Opuntia) · O. apurimacensis (Opuntia) · O. arbuscula (Arizona Pencil Cholla) · O. arcei (Opuntia) · O. arenaria (El Paso Pricklypear) · O. armata (Opuntia) · O. assumptionis (Opuntia) · O. atrispina (Border Prickly-Pear) · O. atropes (Opuntia) · O. atrovirens (Opuntia) · O. auberi (Lengua De Vaca) · O. aurantiaca (Jointed Prickly Pear) · O. aurea (Creeping Beavertail) · O. aureispina (Golden-Spined Prickly Pear) · O. azurea (Coyotillo) · O. basilaris (Beavertail Cactus) · O. basilaris Engelm. & Bigelow var. basilaris (Beavertail Pricklypear) · O. basilaris Engelm. & Bigelow var. brachyclada (Griffiths) Munz (Beavertail Pricklypear) · O. basilaris Engelm. & Bigelow var. heilii Welsh & Neese (Heil's Beavertail Pricklypear) · O. basilaris Engelm. & Bigelow var. longiareolata (Clover & Jotter) L.Benson (Beavertail Pricklypear) · O. basilaris Engelm. & Bigelow var. treleasei (Coult.) Coult. ex Toumey (Bakersfield Cactus) · O. basilaris var. albiflorus (Beavertail Cactus) · O. basilaris var. basilaris (Beavertail Pricklypear) · O. basilaris var. brachyclada (Short Joint Beaver Tail Cactus) · O. basilaris var. Caudata (Short-Joint Beaver-Tail Cactus) · O. basilaris var. cordata (Beavertail Cactus) · O. basilaris var. heilii (Bevertail Cactus) · O. basilaris var. humistrata (Beavertail Cactus) · O. basilaris var. longiareolata (Beavertail Cactus) · O. basilaris var. treleasei (Treleases Beavertail Prickly Pear) · O. bella (Opuntia) · O. bensonii (Opuntia) · O. bigelovii (Teddy-Bear Cactus) · O. bigelovii var. bigelovii (Teddybear Cholla) · O. bisetosa (Opuntia) · O. boldinghii (Opuntia) · O. bonplandii (Opuntia) · O. borinquensis (Olaga) · O. brasiliensis (Brazil Prickleypear) · O. bravoana (Opuntia) · O. cactaceae (Prickly Pear) · O. californica (Brownspined Pricklypear) · O. californica var. californica (California Pricklypear) · O. californica var. parkeri (Brownspined Pricklypear) · O. cantabrigiensis (Texas Pricklypear) · O. canterae (Opuntia) · O. caracasana (Opuntia) · O. cardiosperma (Joyful Opuntia) · O. chaffeyi (Sacasil) · O. chakensis (Opuntia) · O. charlestonensis (Plateau Prickly Pear) · O. chavena (Opuntia) · O. chihuahuensis (Chihuahua Pricklypear) · O. chisosensis (Chisos Mountain Pricklypear) · O. chlorotica (Dollar-Joint Prickly-Pear) · O. chlorotica Engelm. & Bigelow var. chlorotica Engelm. & J.M.Bigel. (Clockface Prickly-Pear) · O. clavata (Club Cholla) · O. cochabambensis (Opuntia) · O. cochenillifera (Cochineal Cactus) · O. cognata (Opuntia) · O. colubrina (Opuntia) · O. compressa var. compressa (Common Pricklypear) · O. conjungens (Opuntia) · O. corallicola (Florida Semaphore Cactus) · O. cordobensis (Argentine Pricklypear) · O. crassa (Opuntia) · O. crystalenia (Opuntia) · O. cubensis (Bullsuckers) · O. curassavica (Opuntia) · O. curvospina (Searchlight Pricklypear) · O. cymochila (Grassland Pricklypear) · O. darrahiana (Opuntia) · O. deamii (Opuntia) · O. decumbens (Lengua De Vaca) · O. dejecta (Nopal Chamacuero) · O. delaetiana (Opuntia) · O. demissa (Pricklypear) · O. densispina (Big Bend Prickly-Pear) · O. depauperata (Opuntia) · O. depressa (Opuntia) · O. discata (Smallfruit Cactus) · O. discolor (Opuntia)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A flora of California, by Willis Linn Jepson. San Francisco, Calif., Cunningham, Curtis & Welch, 1909- url p. 540.
• A phytogeographic and taxonomic study of the southern California trees and shrubs. New York, 1910 url p. 321, p. 423.
• An illustrated flora of the Pacific States: Washington, Oregon, and California. Stanford University, Stanford University Press, 1923-[60] url p. 145, p. 146, p. 147.
• Bulletin of the New York Botanical Garden. 6 1908-1910 Lancaster, Pa.: Published for the Garden by the New Era Printing Co., url p. 321, p. 423.
• Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences. Los Angeles, Calif.: The Academy, 1902-1971. url p. 54.
• Carnegie Institution of Washington publication. Washington, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1902- url , p. 254, p. 56, p. 57, p. 57, p. 59, p. V.
• Checklist of CITES Species: a reference to the appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CITES url p. 272, p. 315, p. 318.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 4 1893 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 112, p. 369, p. 454, p. 872, p. XXIX.
• Field book of western wild flowers, by Margaret Armstrong in collaboration with J.J. Thornber. .. with five hundred illustrations in black and white, and forty-eight plates in color drawn from nature by the author. 1915 London, C. [sic] P. Putnam's Sons, 1915. url p. 591, p. 591.
• Flora of the Rocky Mountains and adjacent plains, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and neighboring parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and British Columbia, by P.A. Rydberg. .. New York, The author, 1922. url p. 575.
• Garden and forest; a journal of horticulture, landscape art and forestry. New York: The Garden and forest publishing co., 1888-97. url p. 325, p. 429.
• Great Basin naturalist memoirs. 1987 [Provo, Utah]Brigham Young University, 1976-1992. url p. 877, p. 88.
• Journal of Hymenoptera research. Washington, D.C.: International Society of Hymenopterists, [1992- url p. 167.
• Journal of the New York Botanical Garden. 42 1941 Lancaster, Pa.: Published for the Garden by the New Era Printing Co., 1900- url p. 29.
• List of intercepted plant pests / United States Department of Agriculture, Plant Quarantine and Control Administration. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O.], 1932- url p. 344.
• National list of scientific plant names. [Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1982- url p. 286.
• North American fauna. Washington: Fish and Wildlife Service; for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U. S. Govt. Print. Off. url p. 345, p. 347, p. 390, p. 5.
• Occasional papers - San Diego Society of Natural History. 1963 San Diego, The Society. url p. 30, p. 94, p. 94.
• Paulus Roetter sketchbook on pines and cactus, 1852 - 18 url p. 4.
• Proceedings - California Academy of Sciences, 4th series. San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. url p. 422, p. 45.
• Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 4th series. San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. url , , p. 246, p. 247, p. 422, p. 45.
• Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. Washington, etc.: Entomological Society of Washington url p. 150.
• Proceedings of the San Diego Society of Natural History. 1992 [San Diego, Calif.]: San Diego Society of Natural History, 1990- url p. 24, p. 4.
• Report of the geological exploration of the fortieth parallel / Washington, D.C.: G.P.O., 1870-80 url p. 120.
• Report upon United States Geographical surveys west of the one hundredth meridian, Washington, Govt. print. off., 1875-89. url , .
• Smithsonian miscellaneous collections. 50 1908 Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1862-1968. url p. 508.
• The Cactaceae, descriptions and illustrations of plants of the cactus family, by N. L. Britton and J. N. Rose. Washington, The Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1919-23. url , p. 57.
• The Cactaceae: descriptions and illustrations of plants of the cactus family / by N.L. Britton and J.N. Rose. 1 1919 Washington: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1919-1923. url p. 56, p. 57, fig. 67, text figures, page V.
• The Great Basin naturalist. 57 1997 Provo, Utah: M.L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University, 1939-1999. url p. 162, p. 414, p. 49, fig. 3, page 539, p. 540, p. 59, p. 60.
• The distribution of vegetation in the United States, as related to climatic conditions [by] Burton E. Livingston and Forrest Shreve. [Washington]Carnegie institution of Washington, 1921. url p. 59.
• The effects of water development upon populations of Gambel's Quail in southwestern Utah / [Salt Lake City]: Utah State Department of Fish and Game, 1964. url p. 133, p. 71, p. 78.
• The standard cyclopedia of horticulture; a discussion, for the amateur, and the professional and commercial grower, of the kinds, characteristics and methods of cultivation of the species of plants grown in the regions of the United States a Illustrated with colored plates, four thousand engravings in the text, and ninety-six full-page cuts. New York, Macmillan, 1919 [c1914] url p. 2364.
• Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History. 12 1959 [San Diego]: The Society, 1905-1989. url p. 370, p. 81, p. 81.
• Trees and shrubs of Mexico / By Paul C. Standley. Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1920-1926. url p. 872.
• Zoe:a biological journal. 5 1901 San Diego, Calif. [etc.]Zoe Publishing Co. url p. 115.
• .Li Zhenyu. 1999. Cactaceae. In: Ku Tsuechih, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 52(1): 272-285.
• Grant, V. and K. A. Grant. 1979. Systematics of the Opuntia phaeacantha group in Texas. Bot. Gaz. 140: 199-207.
• Parfitt, B. D. and M. A. Baker. 1993. Opuntia. In: J. C. Hickman, ed. 1993. The Jepson Manual. Higher Plants of California. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London. Pp. 452-457.
• Philbrick, R. N. 1963. Biosystematic studies of two Pacific coast opuntias. Ph.D. thesis. Cornell University.
• Pinkava, D. J. 2003. Cactaceae cactus family: Part 6. J. Arizona-Nevada Acad. Sci. 35: 137-150.

Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 9, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed December 06, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 7 providers.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 30, 2008)

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 06, 2007:

• Berkeley Natural History Museums, University and Jepson Herbaria DiGIR provider
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium
• School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, The Deaver Herbarium, Northern Arizona University
• Utah State University, USU-UTC Specimen Database
• Utah Valley State College
• , Utah Valley State College Herbarium

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2646160
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-19688
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13767776
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:136304-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 451261
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 19688
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDCAC0D010
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: OPECM OPAC
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 52550

Footnotes

1. Zhen-yu Li & Nigel P. Taylor "Cactaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 209. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Donald J. Pinkava "Opuntia". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 93, 94, 95, 102, 123, 232, 381. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.