Species

Opuntia monacantha

Common Name(s)

drooping prickly pear

Authority

Opuntia monacantha (Willd.) Haw.

Family

Cactaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

OPUMON

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Habitat

Terrestrial. Sandy beaches and coastal places.

Features

Large cactus to about 4 m high, often with thick cylindric trunk, and drooping habit on larger plants. Each stem segment grows to about 30 cm long, is flattened, egg-shaped (can be elongated), and attached at the pointy end. One or two spines emerging from holes in the segments. Yellow flowers up to 9 cm diameter with red tinges are produced on the margins of the stem segments. Fruit up to 7.5 x 3.5 cm, fleshy and reddish purple.

Similar Taxa

At least 2 other large Opuntia appear to be naturalised in New Zealand. O. monocantha can be distinguished from O. ficus-indica as it never has more than 2 spines per cluster, and stems are green. O. ficus indica has 1-6 spines per cluster, and is blue-green. O. robusta is also sparingly naturalised, this species has massive circular segments up to 40 cm diameter.

Flowering

February, March, April, May

Flower Colours

Yellow

Year Naturalised

1855

Origin

S. Brazil, Argentina

Reason For Introduction
Ornamental

Reproduction
Vegetative spread and seed

Seed
many seed produced.

Dispersal
People, birds, soil movement.

Tolerances
Very tolerant of salty coastal sites.

This page last updated on 29 Mar 2010