Opuntia brasiliensis

• 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

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 4,936 meters (0 to 16,194 feet).[3]

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Brasiliopuntia brasiliensis (Willd.) Haw.

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

• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. url p. 72.
• Bulletin of miscellaneous information /Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 1912 London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1900-1941. url p. 395.
• Bulletin. Bureau of Plant Industry. U. S. Department of Agriculture. 1901-13. WashingtonGovt. Print. Off. url p. 24.
• Carnegie Institution of Washington publication. Washington, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1902- url , , p. 10, p. 10, p. 209, p. 209, p. 210, p. 210, p. 265, p. IV, p. VII, plate
• 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. 257, p. 316, p. 317, p. 318.
• III.
• Inventory of seeds and plants imported / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry. Washington, D.C.: G.P.O., 1914-1924. url p. 11.
• Journal of the International Garden Club. New York, International garden club. url p. 13.
• Journal of the New York Botanical Garden. 41 1940 Lancaster, Pa.: Published for the Garden by the New Era Printing Co., 1900- url p. 276.
• Manual of the southeastern flora: being descriptions of the seed plants growing naturally in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, eastern Louisiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. 1933 New York: The author, 1933. url p. 912.
• New England farmer, and horticultural register. Boston: Joseph Breck & Co., 1839-1844. url p. 113.
• Organography of plants, especially of the Archegoniata and Spermaphyta, by Dr. K. Goebel. .. authorized English ed. by Isaac Bayley Balfour. .. Oxford, Clarendon press, 1900-05. url p. 226.
• Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. Sydney, Linnean Society of New South Wales. url .
• Report of the transactions of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for the year. .. with preliminary observations. [S.l.: s.n.], 1839. url p. 38.
• Text-book of botany, morphological and physiological. Oxford, Clarendon press, 1882. url p. 217.
• The American flora: or history of plants and wild flowers: containing their scientific and general description, natural history, chemical and medical properties, mode of culture, propagation, &c., designed as a book of by A. B. Strong. New York: Hull & Spencer, 1855. url p. 180, p. 180.
• The Bradley bibliography; a guide to the literature of the woody plants of the world published before the beginning of the twentieth century; Cambridge, Riverside Press, 1911-18. url p. 596, p. 624.
• 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. 209, p. 210.
• 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 figs. 268-270 , figs. 265-267 , p. 209, p. 210, p. 265, p. VII, plate
• The Florist and horticultural journal. Philadelphia, [Pa.: s.n.], 1853-1855. url .
• The Gardener's magazine and register of rural & domestic improvement. London: Longman, Rees, Orome, Brown and Green, 1826-1844. url p. 104.
• The Gardeners' chronicle: a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects. London: [Gardeners Chronicle], 1874-1955. url p. 91.
• The Magazine of horticulture, botany, and all useful discoveries and improvements in rural affairs. Boston: Hovey and Co., 1837- url p. 394, p. 402.
• The differentiation and specificity of starches in relation to genera, species, etc.; stereochemistry applied to protoplasmic processes and products, and as a strictly scientific basis for the classification of plants and animals Washington, D.C.Carnegie institution of Washington1913 url p. 10.
• The gardener's magazine and register of rural & domestic improvement. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green, 1826-1844. url .
• The journal of the Horticultural Society of London. London, [England]: Published for the Society, by Longman and Co., 1846-1855. url p. 192.
• Window gardening: devoted specially to the culture of flowers and ornamental plants for indoor use and parlor decoration / edited by Henry T. Williams. New York: H.T. Williams, 1872. url p. 268.
• Woods of northeastern Peru, by Llewelyn Williams. 15 1936 Chicago, 1936. url p. 562, p. 563.
• .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

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 9, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 15, 2007:

• Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad
• , Biodiversidad de Costa Rica
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2646166
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-19695
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13768525
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:50741-3
• GRIN Nomen Number: 25823
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 19695
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDCAC0D080
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: OPBR2
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 52572

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]
3. Mean = 760.510 meters (2,495.112 feet), Standard Deviation = 1,279.260 based on 107 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.