Family:
Cactaceae Juss.
Genus:
Opuntia Mill.

Opuntia humifusa (Raf.) Raf.

This species is accepted, and its native range is E. U.S.A., Mexico (Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí).

[FTEA]

Cactaceae, R. Hunt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1968

Morphology General Habit
Erect or sprawling shrub up to 3–4 m. tall, sometimes with a definite cylindric trunk.
Morphology General Spines
Joints usually narrowly obovate, flattened, 10–30 cm. long, 5–12 cm. broad, bright green; areoles densely and shortly woolly; glochids brownish; spines 1–2 per areole (–12 on trunk), stout acicular, up to 7 (–10) cm. long, 1.5 mm. in diameter, one generally conspicuously longer than the other when present, greyish, dark-tipped.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves subulate, 2–3 mm. long, early deciduous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers 5–7.5 cm. in diameter; outer perianth-segments yellow, striped or shaded red, inner golden yellow, widely spreading.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit obovoid, 5–7.5 cm. long, 2–4 cm. in diameter, glochidiate, spineless, reddish-purple, with edible pulp.
Figures
Fig. 1, p. 4.
Habitat
Bushland, coastal bluffs, roadsides; often planted to make fences; 0–1650 m.
Distribution
K4 K6 K7 T1 T3 T6 Z native of South Americawidely introduced elsewhere, notably in South Africa and India where it was commonly used in the cochineal dye industry

Native to:

Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Northeast, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia

Introduced into:

Austria, Bulgaria, Central European Rus, East Himalaya, France, Free State, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Korea, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Lesotho, Netherlands, New South Wales, North Caucasus, Queensland, South Australia, Spain, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Victoria, Western Australia, Yugoslavia

Opuntia humifusa (Raf.) Raf. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
K000100987
Elafmann [0], Spain K000100472
Europe K000100473
Glen [3779] K000100097
73423.000
K000100988
Yugoslavia K000100470
Ball, J. [0], Yugoslavia K000100471
Lucas, G. Ll. [268], Kenya Opuntia vulgaris 22960.000

First published in Med. Fl. 2: 247 (1830)

Accepted by

  • (1984). Flora of Australia 4: 1-354. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
  • Bailey, C. & al. (2015). Guide to the Vascular Plants of Tennessee: 1-813. University of Tennessee press.
  • Chadde, S.W. (2019). Minnesota Flora. An illustrated guide to the vascular plants of Minnesota ed. 2: 1-776. Steve W. Chadde.
  • Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003). Flora of North America North of Mexico 4: 1-559. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.
  • Jones, R.L. (2005). Plant life of Kentucky. An illustrated guide to the vascular flora: 1-833. The universitry press of Kentucky.
  • Kral, R., Diamond, A.R., Ginzbarg, S.L., Hansen, C.J., Haynes, R.R., Keener, B.R., Lelong, M.G., Spaulding, D.D. & Woods, M. (2011). Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Alabama: 1-112. Botanical reseach institute of Texas.
  • Mohlenbrock, R.H. (2014). Vascular Flora of Illinois. A Field Guide, ed. 4: 1-536. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.
  • Retief, E. & Meyer, N.L. (2017). Plants of the Free State inventory and identification guide Strelitzia 38: 1-1236. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Saksonov, S.V. & al. (2014). Addition to the "synopsis of the flora of Eastern Europe vol. 1" (2012) in the middle Volga region and adjacent regions Botanicheskii Zhurnal. Moscow & Leningrad 99: 1067-1072.
  • Takhtajan, A.L. (ed.) in Takhtajan, A.L. (ed.) (2012). Konspekt Flora Kavkaza 3(2): 1-623. Editio Universitatis Petropolitanae.
  • Tashev, A. (2012). Characteristics of the Opuntia humifusa (Cactaceae) locality in the Harmanli district, South Bulgaria Phytologia Balcanica 18: 11-16.
  • Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, H. (2014). Illustrated Flora of Lebanon, ed. 2: 1-610. CNRS Publication.
  • Villaseñor, J.L. (2016). Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.
  • Vladimirov, V. Aybeke, M. & Kit Tan (2018). New floristic records in the Balkans: 37 Phytologia Balcanica 24: 397-461.
  • Vladimirov, V., Aybeke, N. & Kit Tan (eds.) (2017). New floristic records in the Balkans: 32 Phytologia Balcanica 23: 119-146.
  • Vladimirov, V., Dane, F. & Kit Tan (2012). New floristic records in the Balkans: 19 Phytologia Balcanica 18: 205-230.
  • Vladimirov, V., Dane, F. & Kit Tan (2013). New floristic records in the Balkans: 21 Phytologia Balcanica 19: 131-157.
  • Vázquez Pardo, F.M. & García Alonso, D. (2017). Aproximación al conocimiento del grupo Opuntia Mill. (s.l.) (Cactaceae) en Extremadura (España) Folia Botanica Extremadurensis 11: 51-75.

Not accepted by

  • Tutin, T.G. & al. (eds.) (1968). Flora Europaea 2: 1-469. Cambridge University Press. [Cited as Opuntia vulgaris.]

Literature

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • (1984). Flora of Australia 4: 1-354. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
  • (2019). http://www.abcjournal.org/index.php/BothaliaABC/article/view/39/33 epublication.
  • Grierson, A.J.C. & Long, D.G. (1984). Flora of Bhutan 1(2): 189-462. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.
  • Jones, R.L. (2005). Plant life of Kentucky. An illustrated guide to the vascular flora: 1-833. The universitry press of Kentucky.
  • Kral, R., Diamond, A.R., Ginzbarg, S.L., Hansen, C.J., Haynes, R.R., Keener, B.R., Lelong, M.G., Spaulding, D.D. & Woods, M. (2011). Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Alabama: 1-112. Botanical reseach institute of Texas.
  • Retief, E. & Meyer, N.L. (2017). Plants of the Free State inventory and identification guide Strelitzia 38: 1-1236. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Saksonov, S.V. & al. (2014). Addition to the "synopsis of the flora of Eastern Europe vol. 1" (2012) in the middle Volga region and adjacent regions Botanicheskii Zhurnal. Moscow & Leningrad 99: 1067-1072.
  • Takhtajan, A.L. (ed.) in Takhtajan, A.L. (ed.) (2012). Konspekt Flora Kavkaza 3(2): 1-623. Editio Universitatis Petropolitanae.
  • Tashev, A. (2012). Characteristics of the Opuntia humifusa (Cactaceae) locality in the Harmanli district, South Bulgaria Phytologia Balcanica 18: 11-16.
  • Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, H. (2014). Illustrated Flora of Lebanon, ed. 2: 1-610. CNRS Publication.
  • Tutin, T.G. & al. (eds.) (1968). Flora Europaea 2: 1-469. Cambridge University Press.
  • Villaseñor, J.L. (2016). Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.
  • Vázquez Pardo, F.M. & García Alonso, D. (2017). Aproximación al conocimiento del grupo Opuntia Mill. (s.l.) (Cactaceae) en Extremadura (España) Folia Botanica Extremadurensis 11: 51-75.

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

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

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/