Opuntia ficus-indica

Opuntia ficus-indica
Opuntia ficus-indica community growing naturally in Gaziantep, Turkey
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Genus: Opuntia
Species:
O. ficus-indica
Binomial name
Opuntia ficus-indica
Synonyms[2]
  • Cactus decumanus Willd.
  • Nopal Willd.
  • Cactus ficus-indica L.
  • Opuntia amyclaea Ten.
  • Opuntia cordobensis Speg.
  • Opuntia decumana (Willd.) Haw.
  • Opuntia ficus-barbarica A.Berger
  • Opuntia gymnocarpa F.A.C.Weber
  • Opuntia hispanica Griffiths
  • Opuntia maxima Mill.
  • Opuntia megacantha Salm-Dyck
  • Opuntia paraguayensis K.Schum.

Opuntia ficus-indica, the Indian fig opuntia, fig opuntia, or prickly pear, is a species of cactus that has long been a domesticated crop plant grown in agricultural economies throughout arid and semiarid parts of the world.[3] O. ficus-indica is the most widespread and most commercially important cactus.[2][3] It is grown primarily as a fruit crop, and also for the vegetable nopales and other uses. Cacti are good crops for dry areas because they efficiently convert water into biomass. O. ficus-indica, as the most widespread of the long-domesticated cactuses, is as economically important as maize and blue agave in Mexico. Opuntia species hybridize easily, but the wild origin of O. ficus-indica is likely to have been in central Mexico, where its closest genetic relatives are found.[4]

  1. ^ Arreola, H.; Ishiki, M.; Terrazas, T. (2017) [amended version of 2013 assessment]. "Opuntia ficus-indica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T151706A121563254. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T151706A121563254.en. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Opuntia ficus-indica". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Opuntia ficus-indica (prickly pear)". CABI. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  4. ^ Griffith, M. P. (2004). "The Origins of an Important Cactus Crop, Opuntia ficus-indica (Cactaceae): New Molecular Evidence". American Journal of Botany. 91 (11): 1915–1921. doi:10.3732/ajb.91.11.1915. PMID 21652337. S2CID 10454390.