5417.000 Opuntia Mill.

Description of the genus

Succulent shrubs or trees. Stems either composed of flattened joints or terete; branches tuberculate. Areoles with up to 30 spines; glochidia present. Leaves 0 or inconspicuous, caducous. Flowers solitary. Fruit purple, red or yellow.

Derivation of name: based on Tournefort’s name for succulent plants from Opous, Boeotea, Greece.

Worldwide: 200 species, N and S America.

Zimbabwe: 5 cultivated taxa.

Opuntia ficus-indica

Links to cultivated taxa    View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesContent
exaltata A. BergerDescription, Image
ficus-indica (L.) Mill.Description, Image
fulgida Engelm.Description, Image
imbricata (Haw.) DC.Image
microdasys (Lehm.) Pfeiff.

Other sources of information about Opuntia:

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Opuntia
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Opuntia
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Opuntia
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Opuntia
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Opuntia
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Opuntia
JSTOR Plant Science: Opuntia
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Opuntia
Plants of the World Online: Opuntia
Tropicos: Opuntia
Wikipedia: Opuntia

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-25

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2025). Flora of Zimbabwe: Cultivated plants: genus page: Opuntia.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/cult/genus.php?genus_id=993, retrieved 10 February 2025

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