Copy permalink to share
Cactaceae
Opuntia

not marked as a favorite taxon *Opuntia cochenillifera (Linnaeus) P. Miller. Common name: Cochineal Nopal Cactus, Tunita. Phenology: Feb-Apr; May-Aug. Habitat: Disturbed areas, persistent and escaping from cultivation; native to central America and Mexico. Distribution: Occasionally growing as an escape in n. FL (and throughout FL peninsula), where it is commonly cultivated. Reported for s. FL in Broward County (Lange, Bradley, & Sadle [in prep.]).

Glossary (beta!)

ID notes: A tall shrub or more commonly tree-forming species, which is hummingbird-pollinated.

Origin/Endemic status: Neotropics

Taxonomy Comments: The genus Nopalea is phylogenetically nested within Opuntia, and thus those taxa formerly treated in Nopalea should be referred to Opuntia. See Majure et al. (2012a) and Majure & Puente (2014) for further discussion. A diploid species (2n=22).

Synonymy ⓘ: = Bah, Fl5, K4; = Nopalea cochenillifera (L.) Salm-Dyck — FNA4, Britton & Rose (1937); Cactus cochenillifer Linnaeus. Basionym: Cactus cochenillifer L. 1753

Links to other floras: = Nopalea cochenillifera - FNA4

Show in key(s)

Show parent genus | Show parent in key(s)

Wetland Indicator Status:

  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: UPL (name change)

Your browser does not support SVGs

Hover over a shape, letter, icon, or arrow on the map for definition or see the legend.

image #1 of Opuntia cochenillifera© Keith Bradley | Original Image ⭷
image #2 of Opuntia cochenillifera© Étienne Léveillé-Bourret, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Étienne Léveillé-Bourret source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image #3 of Opuntia cochenillifera© Étienne Léveillé-Bourret, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Étienne Léveillé-Bourret source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image #5 of Opuntia cochenillifera© Étienne Léveillé-Bourret, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Étienne Léveillé-Bourret source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image #7 of Opuntia cochenillifera© Matt Reala, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Matt Reala source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image #9 of Opuntia cochenillifera© Matt Reala, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Matt Reala source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image #11 of Opuntia cochenillifera© Joshua Doby, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Joshua Doby source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷

Feedback

See something missing or incorrect about Opuntia cochenillifera? Let us know here:
  1. Please include your name and if possible, email in case when need to clarify what you wrote.
  2. If you opt out of including email, please be as specific as possible (e.g., which photo is incorrect?)
  3. Please do not submit questions asking to identify plants or about horticultural topics (e.g., how do I control an invasive plant in my garden?). Instead, those questions can be submitted here for the Carolinas region only.
  4. Please do not send us feedback about unkeyed species as this work is ongoing.
  5. Please allow time for flora edits to show in our next data release. We greatly appreciate your feedback but may require extra time to research complicated taxonomic issues.

Horticultural Information

NCBG trait

Intro:

Stems:

Leaves:

Inforescence:

Flowers:

Fruits:

Comments:

Height:

plant sale text:

bloom table text:

description:

stems:

leaves:

inflorescence:

flowers:

fruits:

comments:

cultural notes:

germination code:

native range:



0 unsaved edits on this page.