Eltham Indian Fig, Pak'an, Sweet Prickly Pear (Opuntia dillenii)

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IslandJim Keizer, OR(Zone 8b) May 27, 2005

Eltham Indian Fig, Pak'an, Sweet Prickly Pear
Opuntia dillenii

Native plant, Venice, Florida, seashore--on the dunes, May, 2005

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Post #1500221
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Xenomorf Phoenix, AZ(Zone 9b) May 28, 2005

(edited, see below)


This message was edited May 28, 2005 6:48 PM

Post #1502366
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Xenomorf Phoenix, AZ(Zone 9b) May 29, 2005

I was reading in the 2001 Book "The Cactus Family" and looking at the photos of O. stricta and O. dillenii and heres the quotes from this book.

Quoting:
Opuntia stricta:
Plants shrubby, low growing, sprawling to somewhat erect 1.6 to 4.9 feet high.......stems segments 3.9 to 9.8 inches long; 1.4 to 5.9 inches wide; areoles brownish and far apart. Spines; 1 to 5, yellow; perpendicular to the surface...Flowers yellow to yellowish orange....Distribution: southeastern United States, eastern Mexico & Cuba. O. stricta has been widely distributed by humans....some believe it is conspecific with O. dillenii.

The photo in this book looks like these:
http://www.hear.org/pier/imagepages/singles/opstrp47.htm
http://www.f-lohmueller.de/cactus/Opuntia/imf_co21.htm

Quoting:
Opuntia dillenii:
Plants shrubby forming low clumpsor tall, much branched bushes, 6.6 to 9.8 feet high, sometimes with distinct trunks. Stem segments obovate to oblong, often with wavy margins, blue-green, sometimes glaucous, 2.8 to 16 inches long, 2.4 to 3.5 inches wide. Glochids numerous, yellow, conspicuous. Spines extremely variable, 1-5, sometimes none, usually erect, somewhat flattened and curved, yellow, sometimes with brown bands or mottled, up to 2 inches long. Flowers variable lemon yellow to yellowish orange to orange, sometimes reddish. Very widespread in the southeastern United States...... There is considerable dispute whether Opuntia dillenii belongs in Opuntia stricta or should be distinct.

The photo in this book looks like these picts:
http://www.jjphoto.dk/photo_archive/plant_opuntia_dillenii_02.jpg
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/gregoire.boscher/cactus/slides/DSCN6034-cochenilles%20sur%20Opuntia%20dillenii.htm
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/gregoire.boscher/cactus/slides/DSCN6032.htm


As you can see they are currently listed as separate species. The little bit of your cactus stem segment that I can see has zero spines, therefore it would fit the O. dillenii description more closely, but not quite (yours has no glochids). And it dosen't fit at all to the Opuntia stricta description. What would really help out is, if you could get photos of the whole plant AND some picts of any stem segments that have spines (if any).

The flower in your photo looks quite the flower photos in this book of both species.
Of the 200 or so species of Opuntia, roughly 75% of those have the same type of yellow looking flowers, therefore it is nearly impossible to identify an Opuntia by flowers alone.

There are also other species that might be indigenous to the area, but then again how do we know it is native? Who's to know that some alien species weren't planted there years and years ago and have just been spreading ever since.

If you have any other suggestions of what it might be, I can look them up in this book.

PS.
The "Synonym:Cactus dillenii" on this page
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/75738/index.html
does not belong there, it belongs on the Opuntia dillenii page.

Post #1504749
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Xenomorf Phoenix, AZ(Zone 9b) Jun 05, 2007

To make a long story short....I think the cactus you have pictured here is actually Opuntia dillenii because it dosen't have any spines like Opuntia stricta has.
Opuntia dillenii is also native to Florida.

Post #3575756
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Xenomorf Phoenix, AZ(Zone 9b) Mar 18, 2015

IslandJim,
Over the last year I have been in some in depth discussions about the Opuntia dillenii / stricta subject. As I might have mentioned, those two species are extremely closely related and a few Authors think they should be one-in-the-same species. But most authors and websites (including DavesGarden) treat them as separate species. The discussions over the confusion of various different descriptions has led me to the conclusion that what you have pictured here is Opuntia stricta after all. So in light of this new knowledge, would you like your photo moved to the Opuntia stricta page?

This message was edited Mar 18, 2015 6:54 PM

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