About Opuntia guatemalensis (Nopalea guatemalensis) pictures

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Justin
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About Opuntia guatemalensis (Nopalea guatemalensis) pictures

Post by Justin »

Here

http://cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Opu ... temalensis" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Last picture taken at: Leon Department, Nicaragua. For me the flower don't look like a flower of Nopalea (today lumped in Opuntia).
Briton and Rose in Cactaceae say: "the erect petals and elongate filaments and style are constant in Nopalea"

I have noticed a difference between the description made ​​by Britton & Rose in The Cactaceae (Vol.I p.35) ) and the one made by Anderson in The Cactus Family (p.500): Britton & Rose say that the flower petals are red, and Anderson says the flower is yellow lemon.

I do not have and I didn't see the plant. I know only what I read in books or I found on the internet.

Picture of flower of Opuntia guatemalensis, here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/reserva_he ... 663065972/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49165011@N05/5545418121" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

but I do not know if it is correct the ID of plants in the above links.

What do you think?
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Peterthecactusguy
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Re: About Opuntia guatemalensis (Nopalea guatemalensis) pict

Post by Peterthecactusguy »

both of those flowers look more like Nopalea (yes now lumped into Opuntia) flowers that I have seen. I have one that is Opuntia hondurensis (used to be in Nopalea as well) and it should have similar flowers. Mine is going to bloom this year. As an aside I have seen ants crawling on the buds here in Arizona. Must be releasing some nectar or something .. :)
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Re: About Opuntia guatemalensis (Nopalea guatemalensis) pict

Post by daiv »

This is very interesting. Leland Smith is very diligent in searching out the native cactus flora there in Nicaragua. I'll forward along these comments.

It might be interesting to note that Nopalea was reinstated in the NCL, but the name N. guatamalensis is referred to Nopalea auberi.

Something is amiss here one way or the other, but I'm going to have to figure out what it is.
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Peterthecactusguy
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Re: About Opuntia guatemalensis (Nopalea guatemalensis) pict

Post by Peterthecactusguy »

Daiv, you can tell the difference between Nopalea plants and Opuntia plants. Flowers are different, and usually so is the shape of the pads. AT least the ones I have and have seen pictures of are different looking. :)
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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leland
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Re: About Opuntia guatemalensis (Nopalea guatemalensis) pict

Post by leland »

Of the 2 low-growing species listed for Nicaragua, both are opuntias, O. guatemalensis and O. decumbens. The only tree type listed is N. lutea.( N. cochilifera is considered to be introduced). The 2 nopaleas do have similar flowers so it appears they should be nopaleas..

The nomenclature gets consfusing. Anderson, for one, lumps O. guate. and N.guate. together, which is an obvious error because of the flowers and because one is a tree type and the other generally spawling. Veliz in his book on cactus of guatemala lists O guate. and N. guate. as 2 separate species, with N. guate being a tree type up to 6 meters.

Solomon commented in his research (from the 1980s i think) that O. guate. may be a group of related species needing further research, etc. There is much variation in the plants I have found that I am labeling O. guatemalensis. However, if you look at the description in the literature, all of the growth forms fit because the description is so broad!

Another low growing species, poorly known, is listed for El Salvador as O. salvadorensis. I suspect this is probably another one that can be thrown into the mix. The Salvadoran border is only 100 air miles from where I live.

I have grown out cuttings from 2 of the populations and the ``bead type`` I refer to as ``prostrate``, definately has a strange growth pattern and a larger flower when compared to the others. The sprawling form I found at another dry interior location has grown out to be upright like the form on the coast. When I get down to the coast I plan to get some cuttings of the more ``shrubby`` type and grow them out in my garden.


Generally I try to use the nomeclature of David Hunt as the newest and most accurate but cross reference to older names that are in more common use.
Last edited by leland on Mon Dec 18, 2023 9:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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leland
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Re: About Opuntia guatemalensis (Nopalea guatemalensis) pict

Post by leland »

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In the past few weeks I've gone for a couple drives to the west of where I live. This is lower and hotter country. On the road to Limay I found several groups of O. guat growing along the side of the road. On the road to Santa Rosa de Penon (pictured)I found several groups hanging down rock cliffs and more along the side of the road. The literature lists them as hanging as well a sprawling, so I was glad to see these clif hangers for the first time. The plants by Limay had both oval and oblong cladodes, characteristic of the variability in the species. The ones by Penon were more oval.
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Justin
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Re: About Opuntia guatemalensis (Nopalea guatemalensis) pict

Post by Justin »

Hello Leland
Thanks for the info and for the pictures! I missed a few months, and I was pleasantly surprised to find something new here.
I think it would be very interesting photos of Opuntia and other cacti or plants in habitat from your area. Central America seems so little explored!
Justin
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leland
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Re: About Opuntia guatemalensis (Nopalea guatemalensis) pict

Post by leland »

Thanx. One of the things I found when I first started exploring Nicaraguan cactus is that the literature is rather week, particularly for Nicaragua and Honduras. Another thing I soon found out is that the cactus here are rather scattered and in the rainy season they are often covered by other growth and hard to see. Generally, Guatemala is well researched by Veliz and Costa Rica has had a lot of attention. This changed considerably when Dr. Hunt visited North Central Nicaragua 2 years ago, but there is still much to be documented.

Daiv has kindly posted a link next to my name on my posts (white and green circle) which will take you to my personal site.
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