Opuntia ficus-indica |
Opuntia basilaris |
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barbary fig, Indian-fig pricklypear, mission prickly-pear, nopal de castilla, tuna, tuna cactus |
beavertail, beavertail cactus, beavertail pricklypear |
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Habit | Trees, 3–6 m; trunk to 30–45 cm diam. | Shrubs, forming clumps, 1–2(–3) segments tall, to 7–40 cm. | ||||||||||||
Stem | 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. |
segments not disarticulating, blue- to yellow-green, sometimes tinged maroon-purple, flattened, spatulate to broadly obovate or subcircular, thick, 5–22(–35) × 2–13.5(–16) cm, nearly smooth, papillose to puberulent (rarely glabrous); areoles 4–16(–19) per diagonal row across midstem segment, circular to elliptic, 3–5 × 3 mm; wool white to tan, aging gray. |
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Spines | 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. |
0(–8) per areole, when present, usually in distal areoles, spreading, yellow, straight, acicular, 5–25 mm. |
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Glochids | along adaxial margin of areole and small, inconspicuous tuft, yellowish, aging brown, less than 2 mm. |
numerous, nearly filling areoles, yellow to red-brown or dark brown, to 3 mm. |
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Flowers | inner tepals yellow to orange throughout, 25–50 mm; filaments and anthers yellow; style bright red; stigma lobes yellow. |
inner tepals pink to magenta throughout (rarely white), 25–40 mm; filaments red-magenta (rarely pale); anthers yellowish; style white to pink; stigma lobes white to cream. |
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Fruits | yellow to orange to purple, 50–100 × 40–90 mm, fleshy to ± juicy, glabrous, usually spineless; areoles 45–60, evenly distributed on fruit. |
maturing tan, 20–40 × 15–23 mm, dry at maturity, puberulent, spineless (except in var. treleasei); umbilicus 5–12 mm deep; areoles 24–76. |
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Seeds | pale tan, subcircular, 4–5 mm diam., warped; girdle protruding to 1 mm. |
yellowish to tan, ± subspheric but angular, thick, 6.5–9 × 6.5–7 mm, sides smooth or bearing 1–3 depressions; girdle protruding to 1 mm. |
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2n | = 88. |
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Opuntia ficus-indica |
Opuntia basilaris |
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Phenology | Flowering spring (Apr). | |||||||||||||
Habitat | Coastal chaparral, sage scrub, arid uplands, washes, canyons, disturbed sites | |||||||||||||
Elevation | 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) | |||||||||||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; Mexico [Introduced in North America]
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AZ; CA; NV; UT; n Mexico
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Discussion | 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.) |
Varieties 4 (4 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 142. | FNA vol. 4, p. 144. | ||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Opuntia | Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Opuntia | ||||||||||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Cactus ficus-indica, Cactus opuntia, O. compressa, O. vulgaris | |||||||||||||
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Miller: Gard. Dict. ed. 8, Opuntia no. 2. (1768) | Engelmann & J. M. Bigelow: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 3: 298. (1856) | ||||||||||||
Web links |