Opuntia drummondii

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Species Distribution Map
Family:CACTACEAE
Species:Opuntia drummondii Graham
Common Name:Cock Spur Prickly Pear; Little Prickly Pear; Dune Prickly Pear
Habitat:Most often in dry sandy areas of the outer coastal plain but can also be found on inland riverine sand prairies and rock outcrops.
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Shrub
Duration:Perennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:**
Plant Notes:Cock Spur Prickly Pear is a native perennial in the Cactus family (Cactaceae). It can be found in scattered locations in the southern two-thirds of Alabama. Cock Spur Prickly Pear occurs on dunes, in sandhills, on deep sand deposits along rivers, and on limestone or granite outcrops. Cock Spur Prickly Pear is a perennial from a fibrous root system. Sometimes small tubers are formed along the roots. The stems are creeping, forming mats. The stems are divided into segments that are loosely attached. The stems segments are known as pads or cladophylls (flattened stems that take on the function of leaves). The pads are flattened, elliptic to linear in outline, with a waxy surface. The pads are glabrous and dark green in color or purple-red when stressed by cold or drought. Small bumps on the surface of the pads are known as areoles. There are 2-4 stout, retrorsely barbed-spines per areole and a crescent area of smaller bristles known as glochids. The spines are firmly attached, but the glochids are easily detached. Flowers are produced singly from the areoles. The outer tepals (petals and sepals) are bright lemon yellow with traces of green on the outer surface, the inner tepals are bright yellow throughout. The fruit is a berry containing many seed. This small cactus is often nearly hidden by leaf litter and other plants. One often first notices it when segments become attached to shoes, clothing, or skin. Cock Spur Prickly Pear is available from nurseries specializing in cacti and succulents. It requires a well-draining sandy soil and full sun. Plants can also be grown by rooting stem segments or from seed.--A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:This species has long be treated with the older name, Opuntia pusilla (Haw.) Haw (Basionym: Cactus pusillus 1803.). However, Maclure et al 2017 contend O. pusilla is ambiguous, without an original type and an earlier neotype designation that is equally ambiguous. Because of the uncertainty, Maclure et al made a compelling case that O. pusilla name should be abandoned for this species and O. drummondii should be used instead.
Status:Native
References:Majure, L.C., W.S. Judd, P.S. Soltis, and D.E. Soltis. 2017. Taxonomic revision of the Opuntia humifusa complex (Opuntieae: Cactaceae) of the eastern United States. Phytotaxa 290 (1): 001-065.
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyCACTACEAE - Cactus family
Genus Opuntia
Species Opuntia drummondii Graham - Cock Spur Prickly Pear; Little Prickly Pear; Dune Prickly Pear

Citation

Citation Opuntia drummondii Graham, Botanist 5: pl. 246. 1846.
Basionym: **
Type: USA: FLORIDA: Franklin Co.: Apalachicola (lectotype: Graham, in Maund & Henslow, Botanist 5: pl. 246. 1841). Lectotypified by Majure et al., Phytotaxa 290: 34. 2017.

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Cactus foliosus Cactus foliosus Willdenow, Enum. Pl., Suppl. 35. 1814.  
Cactus pusillus Cactus pusillus Haworth, Misc. Nat. 188. 1803. Without data (neotype: Pfeiffer & Otto, Abbild. Beschr. Cact. 1: pl. 18. 1840). Neotypified by L. D. Benson, Cacti U.S. Canada 922-923. 1982.
Opuntia foliosa Opuntia foliosa (Willdenow) Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck ex de Candolle, Prodr. 3: 471. 1828.Cactus foliosus Willdenow 1814. 
Opuntia frustulenta Opuntia frustulenta Gibbes, Proc. Elliott Soc. Nat. Hist. Charleston 1: 273. 1859. SOUTH CAROLINA: Charleston Co.: Folly Island near Charleston, 15 Feb 1916, Small s.n. (neotype: US). Neotypified by L. D. Benson, Cacti U.S. Canada 923. 1982.
Opuntia pes-corvi Opuntia pes-corvi Leconte, in Engelmann, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 3: 346. 1856. FLORIDA: Franklin Co.: Cult. at St. Louis, 1860, Engelmann s.n. (neotype: MO; isoneotype: F). Neotypified by L. D. Benson, Cacti U.S. Canada 923. 1982.
Opuntia pusilla Opuntia pusilla (Haw.)Haw., Syn. Pl. Succ. 195. 1812. Cactus pusillus Haworth 1803.Without data (neotype: Pfeiffer & Otto, Abbild. Beschr. Cact. 1: pl. 18. 1840). Neotypified by L. D. Benson, Cacti U.S. Canada 922-923. 1982.
Opuntia tracyi Opuntia tracyi Britton, Torreya 11: 152. 1911. MISSISSIPPI: Harrison Co.: Biloxi, 11 May 1911, Tracy s.n. (holotype: NY).

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Baldwin, Butler, Conecuh, Dallas, Escambia, Greene, Marengo, Randolph, Sumter, Tallapoosa, Washington

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, JSU, SAMF, TROY, UNA, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1888 - 1888

Barcode / Accession No. County Coll. Date Collector &
Collection No.		 Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used		 Image
ALNHS00001095 Randolph 10 May 2012 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#482		 ALNHS
Opuntia pusilla (Haw.) Haw.
UWAL0035409 Dallas 11 May 2012 Keener, Brian R.
7256		 UWAL
Opuntia drummondii Graham
UWAL0035706 Tallapoosa 04 Mar 2016 Davenport, L.J.
6016		 UWAL
Opuntia pusilla (Haworth) Haworth
UNA00017424 Baldwin 27 Jul 1888 Mohr, Charles
s.n.		 UNA
Opuntia drummondii Graham
TROY000028286 Conecuh 17 May 2008 Diamond, Alvin R.
19255		 TROY
Opuntia drummondii Graham
UWAL0035360 Marengo 09 May 2012 Keener, Brian R.
7241		 UWAL
Opuntia drummondii Graham
TROY000051694 Escambia 02 Sep 2019 Diamond, Alvin R.
29075		 TROY
Opuntia drummondii Graham
JSU103199 Randolph 16 May 1954 Edge, J.T.
s.n.		 JSU
Opuntia pusilla (Haworth) Haworth
ALNHS00004792 Randolph 25 May 2017 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#3214		 ALNHS
Opuntia pusilla (Haw.) Haw.
SAMF0006000 Tallapoosa 04 Mar 2016 Davenport, Lawrence J.
6016		 SAMF
Opuntia pusilla (Haworth) Haworth
TROY000043145 Conecuh 24 May 2014 Diamond, Alvin R.
25123		 TROY
Opuntia drummondii Graham
UWAL0030887 Sumter 04 Jun 2015 Keener, Brian R.
8974		 UWAL
Opuntia drummondii Graham
ALNHS00003370 Washington 12 May 2015 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#1952		 ALNHS
Opuntia pusilla (Haw.) Haw.
TROY000017034 Butler 6 Sep 2007 Diamond, Alvin R.
18045		 TROY
Opuntia drummondii Graham
UWAL0044513 Baldwin 23 Aug 2001 Larsen, Harry S.
900		 UWAL
Opuntia drummondii Graham
SAMF0003742 Randolph 15 Mar 1969 Barclay, Lee
s.n.		 SAMF
Opuntia pusilla (Haworth) Haworth
UWAL0033166 Conecuh 24 May 2014 Diamond, Alvin R.
25123		 UWAL
Opuntia drummondii Graham
UWAL0035361 Greene 07 May 2012 Keener, Brian R.
7234		 UWAL
Opuntia drummondii Graham
UNA00058210 Baldwin 26 May 2002 Haynes, Robert R.
10259		 UNA
Opuntia drummondii Graham
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