Opuntia cochenillifera (L.) Mill.

First published in Gard. Dict., ed. 8.: n.° 6 (1768)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Mexico. It is a succulent tree and grows primarily in the desert or dry shrubland biome. It is used as animal food, a medicine and invertebrate food, has environmental uses and for food.

Distribution

Native to:

Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest

Introduced into:

Bahamas, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Caroline Is., Cayman Is., China Southeast, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Himalaya, El Salvador, Fiji, Florida, Guatemala, Guinea, Hainan, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Marianas, Marquesas, Myanmar, Puerto Rico, Rodrigues, Senegal, Society Is., Sudan, Tanzania, Trinidad-Tobago, Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Venezuelan Antilles, Vietnam, Windward Is.

Synonyms

Homotypic Synonyms

Heterotypic Synonyms

Classification

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PAFTOL

POWO follows these authorities in accepting this name:

  • Bosser, J. & al. (eds.) (1990). Flore des Mascareignes 90-106: 1. IRD Éditions, MSIRI, RBG-Kew, Paris.
  • Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Florence, J. (2004). Flore de la Polynésie Française 2: 1-503. IRD editions, Paris.
  • Kress, W.J., DeFilipps, R.A., Farr, E. & Kyi, D.Y.Y. (2003). A Checklist of the Trees, Shrubs, Herbs and Climbers of Myanmar. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45: 1-590. Smithsonian Institution.
  • Lê, T.C. (2003). Danh lục các loài thực vật Việt Nam 2: 1-1203. Hà Nội : Nhà xuất bản Nông nghiệp.
  • Mao, A.A. & Dash, S.S. (2020). Flowering Plants of India an Annotated Checklist (Dicotyledons) 1: 1-970. Botanical Survey of India.
  • Villaseñor, J.L. (2016). Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.
  • Wagner, W.L., Herbst, D.R. & Sohmer, S.H. (1999). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i, rev. ed., 1: 1-988. University of Hawai'i Press, Bishop Museum Press.
  • Wu, Z., Raven, P.H. & Hong, D. (eds.) (2007). Flora of China 13: 1-548. Science Press (Beijing) & Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis).

An alternative taxonomy had been proposed by the following authorities:

  • Berendsohn, W.G., Gruber, A.K. & Monterrosa Salomón, J. (2009). Nova silva cusatlantica. Árboles nativos e introduciados de El Salvador. Parte 1: Angiospermae - Familias A a L. Englera 29-1: 1-438. [Cited as Nopalea cochenillifera.]
  • Smith, A.C. (1981). Flora Vitiensis Nova. A new flora for Fiji (Spermatophytes only) 2: 1-810. Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai. [Cited as Nopalea cochenillifera.]

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
  • Berendsohn, W.G., Gruber, A.K. & Monterrosa Salomón, J. (2009). Nova silva cusatlantica. Árboles nativos e introduciados de El Salvador. Parte 1: Angiospermae - Familias A a L. Englera 29-1: 1-438.
  • Berhaut, J. (1974). Flore illustrée du Sénégal 2: 1-695. Gouvernement du Sénégal, Ministère du développement rural direction des eaux et forêta, Dakar.
  • Bosser, J. & al. (eds.) (1990). Flore des Mascareignes 90-106: 1. IRD Éditions, MSIRI, RBG-Kew, Paris.
  • Carbonó-Delahoz, E., Barros-Barraza, A. & Jiménez-Vergara, J. (2013). Cactaceae de Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales 37: 177-187.
  • Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003). Flora of North America North of Mexico 4: 1-559. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.
  • Florence, J. (2004). Flore de la Polynésie Française 2: 1-503. IRD editions, Paris.
  • Forzza, R.C., Zappi, D. & Souza, V.C. (2016-continuously updated). Flora do Brasil 2020 em construção http://reflora.jbrj.gov.br/reflora/listaBrasil/ConsultaPublicaUC/ResultadoDaConsultaNovaConsulta.do.
  • Fosberg, F.R., Sachet, M.-H., Oliver, R. (1979). A geographical checklist of the Micronesian Dicotyledonae. Micronesica; Journal of the College of Guam 15: 41-295.
  • GBIF (2008-2020). Global Biodiversity Information Facility http://www.gbif.org/.
  • Garcia-Mendoza, A.J. & Meave, J.A. (eds.) (2012). Diversidad florística de Oaxaca: de musgos a angiospermas (colecciones y listas de especies), ed. 2: 1-351. Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
  • Grierson, A.J.C. & Long, D.G. (1984). Flora of Bhutan 1(2): 189-462. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.
  • Hammel, B.E., Grayum, M.H., Herrera, C. & Zamora, N. (eds.) (2020). Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 4(2): 1-524. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
  • Jørgensen, P.M., Nee, M.H. & Beck., S.G. (eds.) (2013). Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127: 1-1741. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  • Kress, W.J., DeFilipps, R.A., Farr, E. & Kyi, D.Y.Y. (2003). A Checklist of the Trees, Shrubs, Herbs and Climbers of Myanmar. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45: 1-590. Smithsonian Institution.
  • Lisowski, S. (2009). Flore (Angiospermes) de la République de Guinée. Scripta Botanica Belgica 41: 1-517.
  • Lê, T.C. (2003). Danh lục các loài thực vật Việt Nam 2: 1-1203. Hà Nội : Nhà xuất bản Nông nghiệp.
  • Mao, A.A. & Dash, S.S. (2020). Flowering Plants of India an Annotated Checklist (Dicotyledons) 1: 1-970. Botanical Survey of India.
  • Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
  • Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
  • Smith, A.C. (1981). Flora Vitiensis Nova. A new flora for Fiji (Spermatophytes only) 2: 1-810. Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai.
  • Villaseñor, J.L. (2016). Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.
  • Wagner, W.L., Herbst, D.R. & Sohmer, S.H. (1999). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i, rev. ed., 1: 1-988. University of Hawai'i Press, Bishop Museum Press.
  • Wu, Z., Raven, P.H. & Hong, D. (eds.) (2007). Flora of China 13: 1-548. Science Press (Beijing) & Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis).

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • Mill., Gard. Dict., ed. 8 (1768), as “ O. cochine-lifera”. Based on plants figured by Dillenius, Plukenet and Sloane.

Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R., & Celis, M. (eds.). (2020). Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia. v1.1. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Dataset/Checklist. https://doi.org/10.15472/7avdhn
  • Diazgranados et al. (2021). Catalogue of plants of Colombia. Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project. In prep.
  • Diazgranados, M., Allkin, B., Black N., Cámara-Leret, R., Canteiro C., Carretero J., Eastwood R., Hargreaves S., Hudson A., Milliken W., Nesbitt, M., Ondo, I., Patmore, K., Pironon, S., Turner, R., Ulian, T. (2020). World Checklist of Useful Plant Species. Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.
  • FPI (2021). Food Plants International. https://fms.cmsvr.com/fmi/webd/Food_Plants_World?homeurl=https://foodplantsinternational.com/plants/
  • GBIF.org (2021). GBIF species matching tool. https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup
  • Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humbodlt (2014). Plantas alimenticias y medicinales nativas de Colombia. 2567 registros, aportados por: Castellanos, C. (Contacto del recurso), Valderrama, N. (Creador del recurso, Autor), Bernal, Y. (Autor), García, N. (Autor). http://i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=ls_colombia_magnoliophyta_2014
  • Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) v.10 (2021); http://mpns.kew.org/
  • Willis, K.J. (ed.) (2017). State of the World’s Plants 2017. Report. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Other Data

Other Kew resources that provide information on this taxon:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Hunt, D. K:SPC-50703.000 No
Hambler, D.J. [781] Nigeria K:SPC-26332.012 No
Jan 1, 1997 Bandeira, F.P. [257] Brazil Nopalea cochenillifera K000013311 Yes
Thomson, G. [117] India Nopalea cochenillifera K000100496 No
Merrill [139] Philippines Nopalea cochenillifera K000275290 No
Phipps [2267] Zimbabwe Nopalea cochenillifera K000100533 No
Leonard [2935] Haiti Nopalea cochenillifera K000100679 No
Miers [3883] Brazil Nopalea cochenillifera K000100953 No
Jansen-Jacobs et al [5009] Guyana Nopalea cochenillifera K000100174 No
Hambler [781] Nigeria Nopalea cochenillifera K000100507 No
[0] Nopalea cochenillifera K000100952 No
Deighton [2223] Sierra Leone Nopalea cochenillifera K000009036 No
Wickens [1421] Sudan Nopalea cochenillifera K000100513 No
Morton [0] Ghana Nopalea cochenillifera K000100506 No
Conzatti [0] Mexico Nopalea cochenillifera K000062520 No
[0] India Nopalea cochenillifera K000100495 No
Kellermann [7108] Guatemala Nopalea cochenillifera K000062519 No
Grandvaux Barbosa; de Le [8648] Nopalea cochenillifera K000100532 No
Greenway [6602] Tanzania Nopalea cochenillifera K000100518 No
von Roemer [26] Indonesia Nopalea cochenillifera K000275291 No
[0] Nopalea cochenillifera K000100954 No
Howard [18333] Nopalea cochenillifera K000100681 No
Rose [0] Mexico Nopalea cochenillifera K000062521 No
Sintensis [4001] Puerto Rico Nopalea cochenillifera K000100680 Yes
Hatschbach [65310] Brazil Nopalea cochenillifera K000100157 Yes

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
  • Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Flora of the Cayman Islands

    • Flora of the Cayman Islands
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images
  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0