Opuntia

Opuntia engelmannii, copyright Pschemp.

Belongs within: Opuntioideae.

Opuntia, the prickly pears, is a genus of cacti with stems divided into flattened cladodes; circumscription of the genus is problematic and it may not be monophyletic as currently recognised (Griffiths & Porter 2009).

Opuntia
    |--O. chaffeyi GP09
    |--O. erinacea GP09
    |    |--O. e. var. erinacea [incl. O. ursina] H93
    |    `--O. e. var. utahensis [incl. O. rhodantha, O. xanthostemma] H93
    |--O. macbrideii GP09
    |--O. robusta GP09
    |--+--O. decumbens GP09
    |  `--O. pubescens GP09
    |--+--O. excelsa GP09
    |  `--O. pycnantha GP09
    |--+--O. eichios GP09
    |  |--O. galapageia GP09
    |  |--O. megasperma GP09
    |  `--O. sulfurea GP09
    |--+--O. depressa GP09
    |  `--+--O. megacantha GP09
    |     |--O. pittieri GP09
    |     |--O. schumanni GP09
    |     `--+--O. ficus-indica GP09
    |        `--O. tomentosa GP09
    `--+--O. boldingii GP09
       |--O. santa-rita GP09
       `--+--O. aureispina GP09
          |--O. camanchica GP09
          |--O. macrocentra GP09
          |--O. strigil GP09
          `--+--O. engelmannii GP09 [incl. O. phaeacantha var. discata H93, O. lindheimeri H06]
             `--O. phaeacantha GP09 (see below for synonymy)

Opuntia incertae sedis:
  O. articulata EL98
  O. aurantiaca H06
  O. basilaris H93
    |--O. b. var. basilaris [incl. O. basilaris var. ramosa, O. whitneyana] H93
    |--O. b. var. brachyclada [incl. O. humistrata] H93
    `--O. b. var. treleasei H93
  O. chlorotica H93
  O. curvospina H93
  O. demissa H93
  O. elatior H90
  O. exaltata H06
  O. ficus-barbarica Y98
  O. fragilis H93
  O. fulgida H06
  O. helleri RJ11
  O. humifusa [incl. O. compressa] H90
  O. junctolineela C90
  O. lepticollis OB11
  O. littoralis [incl. O. semispinosa] H93
  O. mesacantha R35
  O. microdasys H90
  O. × occidentalis H93
  ‘Cactus’ opuntia C55
  O. oricola H93
  O. paraguayensis [incl. O. bonaerensis] H90
  O. polyacantha CL86
  O. soehrensii EL98
  O. spinosior LW70
  O. spinosissima SS96
  O. spinulifera H06
  O. streptacantha H90
  O. stricta H90
    |--O. s. var. stricta [incl. O. bentonii, O. inermis] H90
    `--O. s. var. dillenii H90
  O. tenuispina H90
  O. triacantha SS96
  O. × vaseyi (see below for synonymy) H93
  O. verschaffeltii EL98
  O. vulgaris [incl. O. monacantha] H90
  O. wentiana F11

Opuntia phaeacantha GP09 [incl. O. phaeacantha var. major H93, O. mojavensis H93, O. littoralis var. piercei H93]

Opuntia × vaseyi [O. littoralis × O. phaeacantha; =O. littoralis var. vaseyi; incl. O. littoralis var. austrocalifornica, O. occidentalis var. covillei] H93

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[C55] Candolle, A. de. 1855. Géographie Botanique Raisonée: Ou exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l’époque actuelle vol. 2. Librairie de Victor Masson: Paris.

[CL86] Collins, E. I., & R. W. Lichvar. 1986. Vegetation inventory of current and historic black-footed ferret habitat in Wyoming. Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs 8: 85–93.

[C90] Crawford, C. S. 1990. Scorpiones, Solifugae, and associated desert taxa. In: Dindal, D. L. (ed.) Soil Biology Guide pp. 421-475. John Wiley & Sones: New York.

[EL98] Eggli, U., & B. E. Leuenberger. 1998. On colour forms of Opuntia weberi (Cactaceae) with notes on the typification of the name. Willdenowia 28: 175–180.

[F11] Fraga, R. M. 2011. Family Icteridae (New World blackbirds). In: Hoyo, J. del, A. Elliott & D. A. Christie (eds) Handbook of the Birds of the World vol. 16. Tanagers to New World Blackbirds pp. 684–807. Lynx Edicions: Barcelona.

[GP09] Griffith, M. P., & J. M. Porter. 2009. Phylogeny of Opuntioideae (Cactaceae). International Journal of Plant Sciences 170 (1): 107–116.

[H90] Harden, G. J. (ed.) 1990. Flora of New South Wales vol. 1. New South Wales University Press.

[H06] Henderson, L. 2006. Comparisons of invasive plants in southern Africa originating from southern temperate, northern temperate and tropical regions. Bothalia 36 (2): 201–222.

[H93] Hickman, J. C. (ed.) 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. University of California Press: Berkeley (California).

[LW70] Lowe, C. H., J. W. Wright, C. J. Cole & R. L. Bezy. 1970. Natural hybridization between the teiid lizards Cnemidophorus sonorae (parthenogenetic) and Cnemidophorus tigris (bisexual). Systematic Zoology 19 (2): 114–127.

[OB11] Orenstein, R. I., & D. Brewer. 2011. Family Cardinalidae (cardinals). In: Hoyo, J. del, A. Elliott & D. A. Christie (eds) Handbook of the Birds of the World vol. 16. Tanagers to New World Blackbirds pp. 330–427. Lynx Edicions: Barcelona.

[R35] Rayment, T. 1935. A Cluster of Bees: Sixty essays on the life-histories of Australian bees, with specific descriptions of over 100 new species. Endeavour Press: Sydney.

[RJ11] Rising, J. D., A. Jaramillo, J. L. Copete, P. G. Ryan & S. C. Madge. 2011. Family Emberizidae (buntings and New World sparrows). In: Hoyo, J. del, A. Elliott & D. A. Christie (eds) Handbook of the Birds of the World vol. 16. Tanagers to New World Blackbirds pp. 428–683. Lynx Edicions: Barcelona.

[SS96] Simberloff, D., & P. Stilling. 1996. How risky is biological control? Ecology 77 (7): 1965–1974.

[Y98] Yannitsaros, A. 1998. Additions to the flora of Kithira (Greece) I. Willdenowia 28: 77–94.