|
|
Following modified from PIER
|
Top | See original
Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)
[
PIER species lists
] [
PIER home
]
Opuntia stricta
(Haw.) Haw., Cactaceae
|
|
|
|
|
|
Click on an image for links to
BIGGER PICTURES
|
|
Present on Pacific Islands?
yes
Primarily a threat at high elevations?
no
Risk assessment results:
Reject, score:20 (
Go to the risk assessment
)
Common name(s):
[
more details
]
|
English
: erect prickly-pear, southern spineless cactus |
Habit:
cactus
Description:
"Spreading to erect shrub to 2 m. Basal stem-segments sometimes thickened, trunk-forming; upper segments elliptic to obovate, 10-35 cm long, 7-20 cm wide, glabrous, dull green to grey-green. Leaves conical, 4.5-6 mm long. Spines up to 11 per areole, 1-6 cm long, yellow to brown; glochids yellow. Flowers 5-6.5 cm diameter; petaloid lobes spreading, yellow. Fruit obovoid with depressed apex, 4-6 cm long, 2.5-4 cm diameter, purple. Seeds 4-5 mm long, pale brown" (George, 1984; p. 71).
Habitat/ecology:
Invades grass- and shrubland, rangeland, disturbed sites. "In the native range, this cactus grows on coastal dunes, on shell mounds, and in coastal hammocks. The plant spreads rapidly and forms extensive thorny thickets that impede wildlife and replace native vegetation" (Weber, 2003; p. 291).
Propagation:
"Seeds are dispersed by birds and mammals, and remain viable for more than ten years. Dislodged stem segments are carried by streams and root easily, forming new infestations" (Weber, 2003; p. 291).
Native range:
"Tropical and subtropical coast of eastern North America, Bermuda, West Indies and adjacent South America" (George, 1984; p. 71).
Presence:
|
Pacific
|
Country/Terr./St.
&
Island group
|
Location
|
Cited status
&
Cited as invasive
&
Cited as cultivated
&
Cited as aboriginal introduction?
|
Reference
&
Comments
|
New Caledonia
New Caledonia Archipelago |
Île Grande Terre |
introduced
invasive
|
Tassin, Jacques (2005)
|
New Caledonia
New Caledonia Archipelago |
Île Grande Terre |
introduced
invasive
|
MacKee, H. S. (1994)
(p. 25)
Vouchers cited: Guillaumin 8548, MacKee 24784, MacKee 34624
Spontané |
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands |
Solomon Islands |
|
Swarbrick, John T. (1997)
(p. 94) |
Control:
Physical
: "Smaller infestations may be removed manually."
Chemical
: "The best time for chemical control is before fruit swelling occurs, because seeds from unripe fruits are also viable. A very effective control is applying MSMA by stem injection. Frequent follow-up programmes are necessary to treat regrowth and seedlings" (Weber, 2003; p. 291).
Biological:
"The biological control of prickly pear, largely by the introduction of the Phycitid moth
Cactoblastis cactorum
Berg. from Argentina, is one of the most spectacular successes of economic entomology" (George, 1984; p. 71).
Opuntia stricta
is also controlled by a cochineal insect,
Dactylopius opuntiae
.
There is detailed information about identification and control of opuntioid cacti--including
Opuntia stricta
--in
Managing opuntioid cacti in Australia: Best practice control manual for
Austrocylindropuntia
,
Cylindropuntia
, and
Opuntia
species
produced by the Western Australian Agriculture Authority.
Need more info? Have questions? Comments? Information to contribute?
Contact PIER! (pier@hear.org)
[
PIER species lists
] [
PIER home
]
This page was created on 1 JAN 1999 and was last updated on 14 MAY 2018.
|
|
Following served from North West Weeds |
Top | See original context
|
Following served from Map, Center for the Study of Digital Libraries, Texas A&M University |
Top | See original context
|
Following modified from Flora of North America
|
Top | See original
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8.
Opuntia stricta
(Haworth) Haworth, Syn. Pl. Succ. 191. 1812.
Pest pricklypear
Cactus strictus
Haworth, Misc. Nat., 188. 1803;
Opuntia dillenii
(Ker Gawler) Haworth;
O. inermis
(de Candolle) de Candolle;
O. stricta
var.
dillenii
(Ker Gawler) L. D. Benson
Shrubs
, sprawling or erect, to 2 m.
Stem segments
not dis-articulating, green, flattened, narrowly elliptic or obovate, 10-25(-40) × 7.5-15(-25) cm, tuberculate, making margins appear scalloped between raised areoles, glabrous; areoles 3-5 per diagonal row across midstem segment, oval, 3-6.5 × 3.5 mm; wool dense, tan.
Spines
0-11 per areole, in nearly all areoles to only in some marginal areoles or absent, spreading in all directions, yellow, aging brown, straight or curving, the longest stout, oval in cross section, 12-40(-60) mm, not markedly barbed.
Glochids
in-conspicuous, few to many in crescent at adaxial edge of areole, yellow, aging brown, often incurved, subequal to increasing in length toward adaxial edge of areole, to 4 mm.
Flowers:
inner tepals light yellow throughout, 25-30 mm; filaments yellow; anthers yellow; style and stigma lobes yellowish.
Fruits
purplish throughout, stipitate, ellipsoid or barrel-shaped, 40-60 × 25-30(-40) mm, juicy, spineless; areoles 6-10.
Seeds
tan, subcircular, 4-5 × 4-4.5 mm, with slightly irregular surface; girdle protruding to 1 mm.
2
n
= 44 (cultivated), 66.
Flowering spring-summer (Feb-Jul). Coastal sand dunes, hammocks, edges of maritime forests, shell middens; 0 m; Ala., Fla., Ga., S.C., Tex.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South Africa (introduced); Australia (introduced).
Opuntia stricta
hybridizes with
O. engelmannii
(apparently var.
lindheimeri
) forming
O.
×
alta
Griffiths (as species) along the coast of southeastern Texas and adjacent Louisiana. The hexaploid hybrid is arborescent to 3 m; it has stem segments subcircular to oblong-ovate, with a glochid pattern intermediate of the putative parents, all yellow spines, and light green stigma lobes.
|
|
Following modified from Plants Database, United States Department of Agriculture
|
Top | See original
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=Opst2 ---> https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=Opst2
|
Updated: 2024-04-28 14:08:33 gmt
| | |
|
