A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word cactus derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek word κάκτος (káktos), a name originally used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant whose identity is now not certain. Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. They are native to the Americas, ranging from Patagonia in the south to parts of western Canada in the north, with the exception of Rhipsalis baccifera, which is also found in Africa and Sri Lanka. Cacti are adapted to live in very dry environments, including the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. Because of this, cacti show many adaptations to conserve water. For example, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the only part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spines, which are highly modified leaves. As well as defending against herbivores, spines help prevent water loss by reducing air flow close to the cactus and providing some shade. In the absence of true leaves, cacti's enlarged stems carry out photosynthesis.
Nopal is a common name in Spanish for Opuntia cacti, as well as for its pads. The name nopal derives from the Nahuatl word nohpalli for the pads of the plant.
Opuntia ficus-indica, the Indian fig opuntia, fig opuntia, or prickly pear, is a species of cactus that has long been a domesticated crop plant grown in agricultural economies throughout arid and semiarid parts of the world. O. ficus-indica is the most widespread and most commercially important cactus. It is grown primarily as a fruit crop, and also for the vegetable nopales and other uses. Cacti are good crops for dry areas because they efficiently convert water into biomass. O. ficus-indica, as the most widespread of the long-domesticated cactuses, is as economically important as maize and blue agave in Mexico. Opuntia species hybridize easily, but the wild origin of O. ficus-indica is likely to have been in central Mexico, where its closest genetic relatives are found.
Brasiliopuntia is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae. It contains only one species, Brasiliopuntia brasiliensis.
Yavia cryptocarpa is a species of cactus and the only species of the newly discovered genus Yavia. The genus is named after Argentina's department Yavi, Jujuy Province, where the plant is endemic to sparsely vegetated rocky slopes. The plant is also sometimes put in the tribe Notocacteae. The specific epithet cryptocarpa refers to the plant being a cryptocarp. This means that the fruits are formed inside the plant's body, thus being only visible when the plant shrinks in the drought period.
Cactoblastis cactorum, the cactus moth, South American cactus moth or nopal moth, is native to Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and southern Brazil. It is one of five species in the genus Cactoblastis that inhabit South America, where many parasitoids, predators and pathogens control the expansion of the moths' population. This species has been introduced into many areas outside its natural range, including Australia, the Caribbean, and South Africa. In some locations, it has spread uncontrollably and was consequently classified an invasive species. However, in other places such as Australia, it has gained favor for its role in the biological control of cacti from the genus Opuntia, such as prickly pear.
Opuntia engelmannii is a prickly pear common across the south-central and Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It goes by a variety of common names, including desert prickly pear, discus prickly pear, Engelmann's prickly pear in the US, and nopal, abrojo, joconostle, and vela de coyote in Mexico.
Opuntia humifusa, commonly known as the devil's-tongue, eastern prickly pear or Indian fig, is a cactus of the genus Opuntia present in parts of the eastern United States and northeastern Mexico.
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. Cacti are well-adapted to aridity; however, they are still vulnerable to alterations in precipitation and temperature driven by climate change. 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, sabbar, nopal from the Nahuatl word nōpalli, nostle (fruit) from the Nahuatl word nōchtli, and paddle cactus. 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. The most common culinary species is the "Barbary fig".
Cylindropuntia echinocarpa is a species of cactus known by the common names silver cholla, golden cholla, and Wiggins' cholla. It was formerly named Opuntia echinocarpa.
Opuntia aciculata, also called Chenille pricklypear, old man's whiskers, and cowboy's red whiskers, is a perennial dicot and an attractive ornamental cactus native to Texas. It belongs to the genus Opuntia. It is also widespread in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.
Opuntia aurantiaca, commonly known as tiger-pear, jointed cactus or jointed prickly-pear, is a species of cactus from South America. The species occurs naturally in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay and is considered an invasive species in Africa and Australia.
Opuntia polyacantha is a common species of cactus known by the common names plains pricklypear, starvation pricklypear, hairspine cactus, and panhandle pricklypear. It is native to North America, where it is widespread in Western Canada, the Great Plains, the central and Western United States, and Chihuahua in northern Mexico. In 2018, a disjunct population was discovered in the Thousand Islands region of Ontario, Canada.
Opuntia macrocentra, the long-spined purplish prickly pear or purple pricklypear, is a cactus found in the lower Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. A member of the prickly pear genus, this species of Opuntia is most notable as one of a few cacti that produce a purple pigmentation in the stem. Other common names for this plant include black-spined pricklypear, long-spine prickly pear, purple pricklypear, and redeye prickly pear.
Soehrensia angelesiae is a species of cactus.
Opuntia rufida is a species of prickly pear cactus native to southwestern Texas and northern Mexico, where it grows on rocky slopes. The species makes up for its total lack of spines with a profusion of red-brown glochids. The common name blind prickly pear or cow blinder comes from the fact that the glochids may be carried away by the wind and blind animals.
Opuntia ammophila, the devil's-tongue, is a species of prickly pear cactus in Florida. Individuals typically occur singly and do not generally form dense thickets. O. ammophila was once considered a variety of O. humifusa; however, it is a distinct species. Among their many differences, O. ammophila has gray-green cladodes rather than green or grass-green.
Opuntia lagunae, commonly known as the Laguna prickly pear or the shrubby prickly pear, is a species of prickly pear cactus in the family Cactaceae. It was described by Edgar Martin Baxter.
Opuntia tehuacana, commonly known as the Tehuacán prickly pear, is a species of prickly pear cactus in the family Cactaceae. It was described by Salvador Arias Montez and Susana Gama López in 1997, who were both Mexican botanists. The species was named for the town of Tehuacán, Mexico, which is near the center of the species range.
Opuntia austrina, also known as the Florida prickly pear, is a prickly pear cactus species that is endemic to Florida in the United States.
Carreira, V. P., Padró, J., Koch, N. M., Fontanarrosa, P., Alonso, I., & Soto, I. M. (2014). Nutritional Composition ofOpuntia sulphureaG. Don Cladodes. Haseltonia, 19, 38-45. doi:10.2985/026.019.0106
Judy Pigue "Opuntia sulphurea in Northwest Argentina," Cactus and Succulent Journal 85(5), 206-209, (1 October 2013). https://doi.org/10.2985/015.085.0503
"Opuntia sulphurea" Text available under a CC-BY-SA Creative Commons Attribution License. www.llifle.com 14 Nov. 2005. 06 Nov 2020. </Encyclopedia/CACTI/Family/Cactaceae/32053/Opuntia_sulphurea>
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