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Opuntia ficus-indica (Linnaeus) Miller [family CACTACEAE]

Date Updated: 23 July 2012

Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 4,
Names
Opuntia ficus-indica (Linnaeus) Miller [family CACTACEAE], Gard. Dict. ed., 8, Opuntia no. 2. 1768 Cactus ficus-indica Linnaeus [family ], Sp. Pl., 1: 468. 1753 Cactus opuntia Linnaeus [family ] Opuntia compressa J. F. Macbride [family CACTACEAE] Opuntia vulgaris Miller [family CACTACEAE]
Treatment Author(s)
Donald J. Pinkava
Information
Trees, 3–6 m; trunk to 30–45 cm diam. 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. 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. Glochids along adaxial margin of areole and small, inconspicuous tuft, yellowish, aging brown, less than 2 mm. Flowers: inner tepals yellow to orange throughout, 25–50 mm; filaments and anthers yellow; style bright red; stigma lobes yellow. Fruits yellow to orange to purple, 50–100 × 40–90 mm, fleshy to ± juicy, glabrous, usually spineless; areoles 45–60, evenly distributed on fruit. Seeds pale tan, subcircular, 4–5 mm diam., warped; girdle protruding to 1 mm. 2n = 88.
Phenology
mar-may (spring)
Altitude range
0–300 m;
Distribution
Mexico.USA Ariz.USA Calif.
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.
Native/Introduced
introduced;

Date Updated: 23 July 2012

Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 4,
Names
Opuntia ficus-indica (Linnaeus) Miller [family CACTACEAE], Gard. Dict. ed., 8, Opuntia no. 2. 1768 Cactus ficus-indica Linnaeus [family ], Sp. Pl., 1: 468. 1753 Cactus opuntia Linnaeus [family ] Opuntia compressa J. F. Macbride [family CACTACEAE] Opuntia vulgaris Miller [family CACTACEAE]
Treatment Author(s)
Donald J. Pinkava
Information
Trees, 3–6 m; trunk to 30–45 cm diam. 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. 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. Glochids along adaxial margin of areole and small, inconspicuous tuft, yellowish, aging brown, less than 2 mm. Flowers: inner tepals yellow to orange throughout, 25–50 mm; filaments and anthers yellow; style bright red; stigma lobes yellow. Fruits yellow to orange to purple, 50–100 × 40–90 mm, fleshy to ± juicy, glabrous, usually spineless; areoles 45–60, evenly distributed on fruit. Seeds pale tan, subcircular, 4–5 mm diam., warped; girdle protruding to 1 mm. 2n = 88.
Phenology
mar-may (spring)
Altitude range
0–300 m;
Distribution
Mexico.USA Ariz.USA Calif.
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.
Native/Introduced
introduced;

Date Updated: 23 July 2012

Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 4,
Names
Opuntia ficus-indica (Linnaeus) Miller [family CACTACEAE], Gard. Dict. ed., 8, Opuntia no. 2. 1768 Cactus ficus-indica Linnaeus [family ], Sp. Pl., 1: 468. 1753 Cactus opuntia Linnaeus [family ] Opuntia compressa J. F. Macbride [family CACTACEAE] Opuntia vulgaris Miller [family CACTACEAE]
Treatment Author(s)
Donald J. Pinkava
Information
Trees, 3–6 m; trunk to 30–45 cm diam. 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. 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. Glochids along adaxial margin of areole and small, inconspicuous tuft, yellowish, aging brown, less than 2 mm. Flowers: inner tepals yellow to orange throughout, 25–50 mm; filaments and anthers yellow; style bright red; stigma lobes yellow. Fruits yellow to orange to purple, 50–100 × 40–90 mm, fleshy to ± juicy, glabrous, usually spineless; areoles 45–60, evenly distributed on fruit. Seeds pale tan, subcircular, 4–5 mm diam., warped; girdle protruding to 1 mm. 2n = 88.
Phenology
mar-may (spring)
Altitude range
0–300 m;
Distribution
Mexico.USA Ariz.USA Calif.
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.
Native/Introduced
introduced;
Opuntia ficus-indica (Linnaeus) Miller [family CACTACEAE]
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