Opuntia repens
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Opuntia repens is a species of plant in the genus Opuntia ( Opuntia ) from the cactus family(Cactaceae). The specific epithet repens means 'creeping'.
description
Opuntia repens grows low shrubby with upright or ascending branches, is richly branched and forms clumps with heights of growth of up to 50 centimeters and diameters of 4 meters. The green to olive green, bare or downy, strongly flattened, elongated to linear shoot sections are 5 to 16 centimeters long and up to 3.5 centimeters wide. The non-raised areoles are 1 to 1.5 centimeters apart. Their yellowish brown glochids are up to 3 millimeters long. The three to six needle-like, yellowish-brown thorns become whitish with age. They are up to 4 inches long.
The flowers are yellow and can reach a diameter of up to 4 centimeters. The red fruits are 2 to 3 inches long.
Distribution, systematics and endangerment
Opuntia repens is distributed in 10 to 12 known locations in Puerto Rico and neighboring Caribbean islands.
The first description by Domingo Bello y Espinosa was published in 1881.
In the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN , the species is listed as " Least Concern (LC) ". H. listed as not endangered. The future development of the populations is unknown.
proof
literature
- Edward F. Anderson : The Great Cactus Lexicon . Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8001-4573-1 , p. 474 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Anales de la Sociedad Espanola de Historia Natural . Volume 10, 1881, p. 277 (online) .
- ^ Opuntia repens in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014.3. Listed by: Majure, L. & Griffith, P., 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
