Opuntia abjecta Small ex Britton & Rose. Species accepted by Plants of the World Online, as of October 2022, are listed below, together with some species accepted by other sources, where the name preferred by Plants of the World Online is also given. The ancestral diploid state was 2n=22, but many species are hexaploid (6n = 66) or octaploid (8n = 88). Opuntia also has a tendency for polyploidy. This can make classification difficult, yielding a reticulate phylogeny where different species come together in hybridization. Opuntia hybridizes readily between species. Ĭonsiderable variation of taxonomy occurs within Opuntia species, resulting in names being created for variants or subtypes within a species, and use of DNA sequencing to define and isolate various species. He distinguished the genus largely on the form of its flowers and fruits. In 1754, the Scottish botanist Philip Miller divided them into several genera, including Opuntia. When Carl Linnaeus published Species Plantarum in 1753 – the starting point for modern botanical nomenclature – he placed all the species of cactus known to him in one genus, Cactus. The Sicilian prickly pear contains betalain, betanin, and indicaxanthin, with highest levels in their fruits. Identified compounds under basic research include gallic acid, vanillic acid and catechins, as examples. Opuntia contains a range of phytochemicals in variable quantities, such as polyphenols, dietary minerals and betalains. Prickly pear species can vary greatly in habit most are shrubs, but some, such as O. Placentation is parietal, and the fruit is a berry with arillate seeds. The stamens are numerous and in spiral or whorled clusters, and the gynoecium has numerous inferior ovaries per carpel. The flowers are typically large, axillary, solitary, bisexual, and epiperigynous, with a perianth consisting of distinct, spirally arranged tepals and a hypanthium. Prickly pears typically grow with flat, rounded cladodes (also called platyclades) containing large, smooth, fixed spines and small, hairlike prickles called glochids that readily adhere to skin or hair, then detach from the plant. Cladodes (large pads) are green to blue-green, bearing few spines up to 2.5 centimetres (1 inch) or may be spineless. ficus-indica is a large, trunk-forming, segmented cactus that may grow to 5–7 metres (16–23 feet) with a crown of over 3 m (10 ft) in diameter and a trunk diameter of 1 m (1 yard). The most common culinary species is the Indian fig opuntia ( O. ficus-indica). The genus is named for the Ancient Greek city of Opus, where, according to Theophrastus, an edible plant grew and could be propagated by rooting its leaves. Prickly pear alone is more commonly used to refer exclusively to the fruit, but may also be used for the plant itself in addition, other names given to the plant and its specific parts include tuna (fruit), sabra, nopal (pads, plural nopales) from the Nahuatl word nōpalli, nostle (fruit) from the Nahuatl word nōchtli, and paddle cactus. Opuntia, commonly called the prickly pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae, many known for their flavorful fruit and showy flowers.
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