Opuntia triacantha

Opuntia triacantha
Systematics
Order :	Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family :	Cactus family (Cactaceae)
Subfamily :	Opuntioideae
Tribe :	Opuntieae
Genre :	Opuntia ( Opuntia )
Type :	Opuntia triacantha
Scientific name
	Opuntia triacantha
	( Willd. ) Sweet

Opuntia triacantha is a species of plant in the genus of Opuntia ( Opuntia ) from the cactus family(Cactaceae). The specific epithet triacantha means '(Latin triacanthus) with hairy spines'.

description

Opuntia triacantha grows low, shrubby with several splayed to semi-upright, heavily thorny branches. The light green, smooth, elongated oval to elongated shoot sections , some of which fall off slightly, are 4 to 8 inches long. The usually three initially white and later yellowish thorns are up to 4 centimeters long.

The brownish-yellow to cream-colored flowers turn reddish with age and reach a diameter of up to 5 centimeters. The thornless red fruits are up to 2.5 centimeters long.

Distribution, systematics and endangerment

Opuntia triacantha is common in Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles .

The first description as Cactus triacanthus by Carl Ludwig Willdenow was published in 1814. Robert Sweet placed the species in the genus Opuntia in 1826 .

In the Red List of Threatened Species of IUCN is the species as " Near Threatened (NT) ", d. H. low risk led. 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. 480 .

Individual evidence

↑ Enumeratio plantarum Horti regii botanici berolinensis: continens descriptiones omnium vegetabilium in horto dicto cultorum. Supplement . Supplementum, 1814?, P. 34 (online) .
↑ Sweet's Hortus britannicus: or a catalog of plants cultivated in the gardens of Great Britain, arranged in natural orders . London 1826, p. 172 (online) .
^ Opuntia triacantha in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014.3. Posted by: Majure, L., Griffith, P. & Gann, GD, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2015.

Web links

Commons : Opuntia triacantha - Collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] Enumeratio plantarum Horti regii botanici berolinensis: continens descriptiones omnium vegetabilium in horto dicto cultorum. Supplement . Supplementum, 1814?, P. 34 (online) .

[2] Sweet's Hortus britannicus: or a catalog of plants cultivated in the gardens of Great Britain, arranged in natural orders . London 1826, p. 172 (online) .

[3] Opuntia triacantha in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014.3. Posted by: Majure, L., Griffith, P. & Gann, GD, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2015.