Opuntioideae

Opuntioideae
Cylindropuntia ramosissima
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Subfamily: Opuntioideae
Burnett
Tribes

Cylindropuntieae
Opuntieae
Pterocacteae
Tephrocacteae[1]

Opuntioideae is a subfamily of the cactus family, Cactaceae. It contains 15 genera divided into five tribes. The subfamily encompasses roughly 220–250 species, and is geographically distributed throughout the New World from Canada, to Argentina.[2] Members of this subfamily have diverse habits, including small geophytes, hemispherical cushions, shrubs, trees, and columnar cacti consisting of indeterminate branches or determinate terete or spherical segments.[3]

  1. ^ "Family: Cactaceae Juss., nom. cons. subfam. Opuntioideae". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2004-02-13. Archived from the original on 2012-08-25. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  2. ^ Anderson, Edward F. (2001). The Cactus Family. Portland, OR: Timber Press. ISBN 0881924989.
  3. ^ Ritz, C.M.; Reiker, J.; Charles, G.; Hoxey, P.; Hunt, D.; Lowry, M.; Stuppy, W.; Taylor, N. (2012). "Molecular phylogeny and character evolution in terete-stemmed Andean opuntias (Cactaceae−Opuntioideae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 65 (2): 668–681. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.07.027. PMID 22877645.