| Classification |
| Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order Type: Eudicots-Caryophyllids
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Family Common Name: Cactus Family
Genera: Opuntia |
Defining Features: Plants
are succulent and survive well in xeric environments. Plants have Crassulacean
Acid Metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis.
Defining Morphology: Floral
Features: Flowers are actinomorphic and bisexual (rarely unisexual). Flowers
are large, showy and generally solitary, arising from the end of the areoles.
Ovaries are often inferior with parietal or basal-laminar placentations.
Fruit and Seed Features: Dicotyledon. Fruit a fleshy (or rarely dry) berry.
Seeds are many with a straight or curved embryo. Perisperm and endosperm
can be present or absent. Vegetative Features: Habit as perennial herbs,
tree-like climber or woody succulents with spines. Some species are epiphytic
in tropical areas. Leaves mostly absent, or arising from areoles (reduced
branches), alternate, simple and entire. Estipulate.
Distribution: In most arid
and semi-arid regions of the New World and naturalized in Australia, South
Africa, the Mediterranean, etc.
Economic Use: Highly valued
as garden and indoor ornamentals. Opuntia or Prickly Pear is being used
as a food source in southwest of the U.S.
Number of Genera Globally: 93
Number of Species Globally:
1,400
