Opuntia echios
| Opuntia echios | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Opuntia echios on Santa Cruz |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Opuntia echios | ||||||||||||
| JTHowell |
Opuntia echios is a species of plant in the genus Opuntia ( Opuntia ) from the cactus family(Cactaceae). The specific epithet echios comes from the Greek and means 'hairy adder head'. Presumably, the resemblance to the dense, fine thorns to the rough, bristly hairs of an adder's head is meant.
description
The mostly tree-shaped, growing with hanging branches, Opuntia echios reaches heights of 1 to 10 meters. The trunk, which is initially thorny and later covered with reddish platelets, is usually distinct and can reach a diameter of up to one meter. The yellow-green to blue-green stem segments are round, inversely ovoid or oblong. They are 25 to 45 inches long, 17 to 32 inches wide and 1 to 2.4 inches thick. The round areoles with a diameter of 2 to 6 millimeters are 13 to 30 centimeters apart. Glochids are absent or only a few are present. The 2 to 20 (or more) upright, stiff, strongly dimorphic (two-shaped) thorns are initially yellow and later turn brown. They are between 1.2 and 12 inches long.
The yellow flowers are 8 to 12 centimeters long and reach a diameter of 5 to 7 centimeters. The fruits are green to brown, top-shaped. They are covered with glochids and thorns and have a diameter of 3 to 3.5 centimeters and a length of 4 to 6 centimeters.
Distribution and systematics
A distinction is made between five varieties that occur on some of the Galápagos Islands (Columbus Archipelago). Opuntia echios var. Echios is common on the islands of Isla Baltra , Isla Daphne , Isla Plaza Sur , Isla Santa Cruz . Opuntia echios var. Barringtonensis E.Y.Dawson is only on Isla Santa Fé , Opuntia echios var. Inermis E.Y.Dawson is only on Isla Isabela , Opuntia echios var. Gigantea (JTHowell) DMPorter is only on Isla Santa Cruz and Opuntia echios var. Zacana (Howell ) EFAnderson & Walk. only found on Isla Seymour Norte .
It was first described in 1933 by John Thomas Howell .
Opuntia echios var. Echios , population near Tortuga Bay on Santa Cruz
Opuntia echios var. Echios on Plaza Sur
Opuntia echios var zacana on Seymour Norte
bark
proof
literature
- Opuntia echios JTHowell In: Edward F. Anderson : The Cactus Family . Timber Press: Portland (Oregon), 2001, p. 496. ISBN 0-88192-498-9
- Opuntia galapageia var. Echios (How) Backbg. In: Curt Backeberg : Die Cactaceae: Handbuch der Kakteenkunde . 2nd edition, 1982, Volume I, p. 561 f. ISBN 3-437-30380-5
Individual evidence
- ↑ Urs Eggli, Leonard E. Newton: Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names . Birkhäuser 2004, ISBN 3-540-00489-0 , p. 73.
- ^ Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences . Series 5, Volume 21, 1933, p. 49.
further reading
- David J. Hicks, Andre Mauchamp: Population Structure and Growth Patterns of Opuntia echios var. Gigantea along an Elevational Gradient in the Galápagos Islands . In: Biotropica . Volume 32, Number 2, 2000, pp. 235-243, doi : 10.1646 / 0006-3606 (2000) 032 [0235: PSAGPO] 2.0.CO; 2 .
