Opuntia cubensis

Britton & Rose

Torreya 12: 14. 1912.

Synonyms: Opuntia antillana Britton & Rose Opuntia ochrocentra Small ex Britton & Rose
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Treatment on page 130. Mentioned on page 127.

Shrubs, dense, erect, to 1 m. Stem segments dark green, flattened, elliptic, (4–) 10–17.5 × (3–) 5–7 cm, moderately tuberculate, making margins appear scalloped, glabrous; areoles 3–5 per diagonal row across midstem segment, elliptic to subcircular, 4–6 × 2.5–3 mm; wool pale tan to white, loose. Spines 2–3 (–5) per areole, spreading, yellowish, aging gray-white; major ones straight, stout, slightly flattened, commonly spirally twisted, longest to 25–60 mm. Glochids dense in crescent at adaxial edge of areole, sparser along sides of areole, yellow, turning red to brown, to 5 mm. Flowers: inner tepals yellow throughout, to 30 mm; filaments and anthers pale-yellow; style pale greenish yellow; stigma lobes pale cream. Fruits reddish at maturity, obovoid, 40 × 25 mm, fleshy, glabrous; areoles 17–21, bearing few spines to 9 mm. Seeds tan, subcircular, ± 3 mm diam.; girdle to 0.3 mm. 2n = 22 (Puerto Rico).


Phenology: Flowering year-round.
Habitat: Brushlands, coastal sands, ocean bluffs, disturbed areas
Elevation: 0 m

Discussion

Opuntia cubensis is known in the flora only on Big Pine Key, Florida.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Opuntia cubensis"
pale-yellow +
cushionlike +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
17 +  and 21 +
elliptic +  and subcircular +
0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
Donald J. Pinkava +
Britton & Rose +
proliferating +
flattened +  and cylindric +
Fla. +  and West Indies +
salverform +, cup-shaped +  and rotate +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
spineless +  and stipitate +
burlike +  and spiny +
straight +
indehiscent +
persistent +, long +  and deciduous +
40 cm400 mm <br />0.4 m <br /> (?) +
proliferating +
tuberculate +  and smooth +
obovoid +
25 cm250 mm <br />0.25 m <br /> (?) +
not protruding +  and protruding +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.03 cm0.3 mm <br />3.0e-4 m <br />) +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
foveolate +  and reticulate +
Brushlands, coastal sands, ocean bluffs, disturbed areas +
oblong +  and spatulate +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
deciduous +
flattened +  and conic +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
succulent +
tuberculate +
fluted;spheric;depressed-spheric or club-shaped +
tinged color +
open +  and simple +
sometimes covered by outgrowths of proximal portion of style base or of flower tube wall +  and open +
persistent +  and deciduous +
Flowering year-round. +
ridgelike +  and nipple--shaped +
3;2;2;30 +
tuberlike +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
subcircular +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
7.5 cm75 mm <br />0.075 m <br /> (17 cm170 mm <br />0.17 m <br />) +
gray-white +  and yellowish +
straight +
deciduous +  and persistent +
conspicuous +
with hairlike bristles +  and setose +
Few (?) +, 2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
flattened +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
hard +  and rigid +
decurrent +
winged +  and unsegmented +
tuberculate +  and smooth +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br />) +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (17.5 cm175 mm <br />0.175 m <br />) +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (7 cm70 mm <br />0.07 m <br />) +
segmented +
woody +  and succulent +
yellow +  and pale greenish +
Opuntia antillana +  and Opuntia ochrocentra +
adventitious +
tuberlike +
epipetric +  and epiphytic +
Opuntia cubensis +
species +
dull +  and glossy +
yellow +  and paler +
segmented +
terrestrial;epiphytic or epipetric +
pale tan +  and white +