| | The genera of Cactaceae |
~ Opuntia, cf. Hunt (1967), Cylindropuntia, Austrocylindropuntia
The plants opuntioid; not ‘low and very compacted’. The stems very spiny. The plants branched; without cladodes; erect; shrubby; clustering (forming large thickets several metres wide); to 1.5 m high. The main stem more or less cylindrical. The branches cylindrical; to 7–20 cm long; 3–6 cm in diameter. The stems segmented; not ribbed and grooved. The plants conspicuously tuberculate. The tubercles prominent, elongate, well defined. The areoles associated with tubercles. The components of adjacent areoles so extensively covering the mature plant body as to obscure any ribs or furrows. The areoles scattered on the surfaces (about 60 per stem segment); simple; with glochids; with spines. The spines clustered; about 10 according to Backeberg, "numerous" according to Anderson; unequal, erect, to 8 cm long; showing little or no difference between radials and centrals; straight; terete. The mature stems with much reduced leaves. Leaves of mature stems minute (3–5 mm long); fleshy (with pointed, reddish tips); terete.
Flowering during the day. The flowers more or less terminal; one per areole; not opening fully; sessile; large; to 7 cm long; regular (?). The receptacle conspicuously produced beyond the ovary into a tubular hypanthium; not naked; with scales (probably, these leaflike, cf. Opuntia?); pronably with spines (and/or glochids?). The pericarpel cylindrical, with bristles. The hypanthial tube cylindrical, with bristles; not naked; with spines (and glochids?). The perianth white, or pink. Gynoecium inferior. Placentation parietal. The funicles circinate.
The mature fruit globose to ovoid; pale green, or white (-ish); not naked; barely tuberculate, spiny (covered with bristly spines); globose to ovoid, barely tuberculate, covered with bristly spines, fleshy; indehiscent. The seeds 3.5–5 mm long; having the prominent funicular girdle triangular in section, yellowish white to brown; conspicuously hairy (with a tough hairy funicular envelope); variable in shape; laterally compressed; with perisperm (large); encased in their bony arils. Cotyledons fleshy, foliaceous.
Natural Distribution. Coastal Chile.
Classification. 1 species (M. miquelii). Subfamily Opuntioideae. Tribe Opuntieae.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2018 onwards. The genera of Cactaceae: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 14th November 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
