Opuntia fragilis

Opuntia fragilis

Opuntia fragilis

Taxonavigation

Taxonavigation: Caryophyllales
Classification System: APG IV Superregnum: Eukaryota Cladus: Diaphoretickes Cladus: CAM Cladus: Archaeplastida Regnum: Plantae Cladus: Angiosperms Cladus: Eudicots Cladus: Core eudicots Ordo: Caryophyllales

Familia: Cactaceae
Subfamilia: Opuntioideae
Tribus: Opuntieae
Genus: Opuntia
Series: Opuntia ser. Xerocarpeae
Species: Opuntia fragilis

Name

Opuntia fragilis (Nutt.) Haw., Suppl. Pl. Succ.: 82. (1819)

Synonyms

• Basionym
  • Cactus fragilis Nutt., Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 1: 296. (1818)
• Homotypic
  • Terecaulis fragilis (Nutt.) Berge, Buch der Welt 91. 1842.
  • Tunas fragilis (Nutt.) Nieuwl. & Lunell, Amer. Midl. Naturalist 4: 479. (1916)
• Heterotypic
  • Opuntia brachyarthra Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow, Pacific Railr. Rep. 4(pt. 5 [no. 3]) (Whipple). 47. (1857)
  • Opuntia fragilis f. brachyarthra (Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow) Schelle, Handb. Kakteenkult. 56. (1907)
  • Opuntia fragilis subsp. brachyarthra (Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow) W.A.Weber, Phytologia 51(6): 374. 1982.
  • Opuntia fragilis var. brachyarthra (Engelm. & Bigelow) J.M.Coult., Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 3: 440. 1896.
  • Opuntia fragilis var. caespitosa L.H.Bailey, Stand. Cycl. Hort. 4: 2363. 1916.
  • Opuntia fragilis var. denudata Wiegand & Backeb., Descr. Cact. Nov. 10. 1956.
  • Opuntia fragilis var. frutescens Engelm., Boston J. Nat. Hist. 5: 245. 1845.
  • Opuntia fragilis var. parviconspicua Backeb., Descr. Cact. Nov. 10. 1956.
  • Opuntia fragilis var. tuberiformis L.H.Bailey, Stand. Cycl. Hort. 4: 2363. 1916.
  • Opuntia polyacantha var. schweriniana (K.Schum.) Backeb., Cactaceae (Backeberg) 1: 607. (1958)
  • Opuntia sabinii Pfeiff., Enum. Cact. 147. (1837)
  • Opuntia schweriniana K.Schum., Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 9: 148. (1899)
  • Opuntia ventanensis M.A.Long, Haseltonia 18: 79 (2012)

Hybrids

• Opuntia × columbiana Griffiths

Distribution

Native distribution areas:

Continental: Northern America Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming Introduced into: Argentina Northeast, Bulgaria References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition

References

Primary references

• Haworth, A.H. 1819. Supplementum Plantarum Succulentarum... 160 pp. London. BHL Reference page.  82.

Additional references

• Anderson, E.F. 2001. The Cactus Family. (Timber Press) ISBN 0-88192-498-9.
• Korotkova, N., Aquino, D., Arias, S., Eggli, U., Franck, A. , Gómez-Hinostrosa, C., Guerrero, P.C., Hernández, H.M., Kohlbecker, A., Köhler, M., Luther, K., Majure, L.C., Müller, A., Metzing, D., Nyffeler, R., Sánchez, D., Schlumpberger, B. & Berendsohn, W.G. 2021. Cactaceae at Caryophyllales. org–a dynamic online species-level taxonomic backbone for the family. Willdenowia 51(2): 251–270. DOI: 10.3372/wi.51.51208 Reference page. 
• Majure, L.C., Köhler, M. & Font, F. 2020. North American Opuntias (Cactaceae) in Argentina? Remarks on the phylogenetic position of Opuntia penicilligera and a closer look at O. ventanensis. Phytotaxa 428(3): 279-289. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.428.3.9 ResearchGate Reference page. 

Links

• Govaerts, R. et al. 2025. Opuntia fragilis in Kew Science Plants of the World Online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2025 Jan 05. Reference page. 
• International Plant Names Index. 2022. Opuntia fragilis. Published online. Accessed: Jan 05 2022. Reference page.
• Korotkova, N. et al. 2022. Opuntia fragilis in Cactaceae at Caryophyllales.org. A global synthesis of species diversity in the angiosperm order Caryophyllales. Published online. Accessed: 2022 Jan 05. Reference page. 
• Tropicos.org 2022. Opuntia fragilis. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 05 Jan 2022. Reference page.
• eFloras 2008. Opuntia fragilis in Flora of North America. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA..
• USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Opuntia fragilis in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 2022 Jan 05. Reference page. 
• Opuntia fragilis – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).

Vernacular names

• English: Brittle Pricklypear, little pricklypear
• magyar: törékeny fügekaktusz
• svenska: Sköropuntia

For more multimedia, look at Opuntia fragilis on Wikimedia Commons.