Opuntia azurea

Opuntia azurea, the purple prickly pear or coyotillo, is a long-spined prickly pear that is native to a variety of habitats, including desert, mountain grasslands, and slopes in the Big Bend region of Texas and in the states of Coahuila, Chihuahua, Durango, and Zacatecas in Mexico.[1] It flowers from March to May, with bright yellow flowers with red centres which produce red/purple fruits.[2] Opuntia azurea forms sprawling clusters, two to three feet high.[3]

Opuntia azurea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Genus: Opuntia
Species:
O. azurea
Binomial name
Opuntia azurea
Rose

Its subspecies may include:[4]

  • O. azurea aureispina
  • O. azurea discolor
  • O. azurea azurea
  • O. azurea diplopurpurea
  • O. azurea parva.
  • O. azurea arueispina

However, instead of subspecies, five varieties have been described and ssp. "arueispina" is not recognized.

  • O. aureispina
  • O. azurea
  • O. discolor
  • O. diplopurpurea, and
  • O. parva.[5]


References

  1. Rose, Joseph. "Contributions from the United States National Herbarium" (PDF). Opuntia Web. Joseph Shaw. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  2. A. Michael Powell; James F. Weedin (15 November 2004). Cacti of the Trans-Pecos and Adjacent Areas. Texas Tech University Press. pp. 130–141. ISBN 978-0-89672-531-7. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  3. The American South West
  4. Texas Cacti: Purple Prickly Pear
  5. Ferguson, David (24 December 2011). "Opuntia azurea". Opuntia Web. Joseph Shaw. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.