Opuntia ficus-indica
Cactaceae subfam. opuntioideae
barbary fig, Indian-fig pricklypear, mission prickly-pear, nopal de castilla, tuna, tuna cactus
diffuse or tuberlike.
segments green, broadly oblong to ovate to narrowly elliptic, (20–)4–60 × 2–3+ cm, low tuberculate;
areoles 7–11 per diagonal row across midstem segment, rhombic to subcircular, 2–4(–5) mm diam.;
wool brown.
segmented throughout or only in ultimate branches, succulent (less noticeably so in some Cylindropuntia), often woody, especially toward base, smooth or tuberculate;
areoles cushionlike, circular or nearly so (to linear), usually bearing conspicuous spines and always bearing glochids.
of brief duration, promptly deciduous, present only during initial growth of stem segments and flowers [persistent], conic or somewhat flattened, succulent.
1–6 per areole, absent or very highly reduced, or in marginal to nearly all areoles, erect to spreading, whitish, tan, or brown, setaceous only or setaceous and subulate, straight to slightly curved, basally angular-flattened, 1–10(–40) mm; 0–2 small bristlelike deflexed spines to 5 mm.
slender to stout (to hairlike), terete to strongly flattened, usually smooth, sometimes barbed or roughened, epidermis intact or partly to wholly separating from body of spine as sheath that hangs onto spine.
along adaxial margin of areole and small, inconspicuous tuft, yellowish, aging brown, less than 2 mm.
inner tepals yellow to orange throughout, 25–50 mm;
filaments and anthers yellow;
style bright red;
stigma lobes yellow.
diurnal (opening late afternoon or night in Cylindropuntia fulgida), bisexual (sometimes functionally staminate or pistillate), solitary in areoles [terminal], radially or bilaterally symmetric (flower curved and/or the ovary flattened), sessile, rotate, cup-shaped, or salverform;
flower tube epigynous, short adnate to extension of stem segment surrounding ovary;
nectary at base of style, open or sometimes covered by outgrowths of proximal portion of style base or of flower tube wall as specialized nectar chamber.
yellow to orange to purple, 50–100 × 40–90 mm, fleshy to ± juicy, glabrous, usually spineless;
areoles 45–60, evenly distributed on fruit.
indehiscent, cylindric, ellipsoid, ovoid, or subspheric, sometimes clavate, fleshy, juicy (bleeding), or quickly drying;
perianth and contained flower parts shriveling and abscising basally as single unit including floral cup, leaving deep to almost flat scar (umbilicus) atop fruit.
pale tan, subcircular, 4–5 mm diam., warped;
girdle protruding to 1 mm.
0 (sterile) or 1–400+, yellowish, tan, gray, or brown, flattened to subspheric, 2–7 mm, each completely enclosed by bony funicular envelope, glabrous or sometimes pubescent, its vascular bundle forming girdle around seed, sometimes enlarged and protruding as ridge or wing.
= 88.
Opuntia ficus-indica
Cactaceae subfam. opuntioideae
R. P. Wunderlin (1998) listed this taxon in Florida, but I have not seen specimens.
Opuntia ficus-indica, cultivated nearly worldwide, is presumed to be a native of Mexico, but is definitely known only from cultivation or escapes from cultivation. The species has been used for cattle feed, ornament, and fuel. As human food, the young stem segments, “nopalitos,” are eaten as salad or pickled as a vegetable, and the large delicious fruits, “tunas,” are enjoyed in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide.
This species probably originated through selection by native peoples of Mexico for spineless forms of Opuntia streptacantha (also 2n = 88) to ease the culturing and collection of cochineal scale insects for their red dye. Numerous cultivar names are known.
Naturalized Opuntia ficus-indica (octoploid, spiny morphotype) is known to hybridize in central California with O. phaeacantha (hexaploid), forming a heptaploid with usually intermediate morphology.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Genera 16, species ca. 350 (5 genera, 66 species in the flora).
All genera of Opuntioideae in the flora have been combined into the genus Opuntia at various times. Recent research findings in morphology, anatomy, palynology, seed characteristics, host-herbivore relations, and chloroplast and nuclear DNA make untenable the maintenance of the single genus Opuntia. Unlike some genera of subfam. Cactoideae, the segregate genera of Opuntioideae are not known to produce intergeneric hybrids.
Identification of the species within subfam. Opuntioideae is difficult, in part because of widespread phenotypic plasticity, interspecific hybridization, polyploidy, and apomixis (clonal seeds and stems), which play important evolutionary roles, particularly in Cylindropuntia and Opuntia. Habit descriptions, color photographs (including close-ups), and meiotic chromosome counts are very helpful in identification of species. Also, good herbarium specimens require at least two or three consecutive stem segments, flowers and/or fruits, and detailed notes on all fresh flower parts and fruits as to color (particularly inner tepals, filaments, fresh stigma lobes, and fruits), shape, and size (because of extensive shrinkage on drying). Spine characters are generally based on well-developed areoles, mostly in distal portions of stem segments. Yellow spines usually turn dark red to black with age, including those on herbarium sheets.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
