Opuntia engelmannii Salm-Dyck ex Engelmann var. engelmannii . Engelmann’s Prickly-pear. Hab: Disturbed areas, planted as an ornamental and perhaps persisting or weakly spreading. Dist: Opuntia engelmannii is a large, shrubby hexaploid species (2n=66) with a primary distribution in the western United States and Mexico.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Other Comments: Numerous infraspecific taxa are recognized under this species in most current treatments (e.g., Pinkava in FNA 2003; followed here); some of these taxa have often been also regarded as species. Regardless, it is clear that they are closely related taxa (see Majure et al. 2012c). The typic var. engelmannii can be distinguished from the other two in our area by the production of white spines with dark, reddish-brown bases. It only occurs in our area as an ornamental, as far as is known.
Synonymy: = FNA4, K2, K4; = Opuntia engelmannii Salm-Dyck ex Engelm. – Britton & Rose (1937); < Opuntia engelmannii Salm-Dyck ex Engelm. – Mex
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