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Notes for the Genus:

Cumulopuntia

Etymology -From the Latin cumulo which means pile or heap - referring to the mounds formed by the stems.
As more and more work is done on the Opuntiads, more species are broken out of the genus Opuntia and placed into separate genera. Cumulopuntia is one of the earlier groups to be recognized as distinct from the genus Opuntia, however, many were placed into the even earlier genus of Tephrocactus primarily by Backeberg in the 1950’s. Then in 1980, F. Ritter created the new genus Cumulopuntia taking species from both Tephrocactus and Opuntia. The primary distinction was in the fruits which contain no pulp. Seed structure is also unlike other Opuntiads and overall growth is that of a compact cushion. At least 30 or more species have been described for the genus, but this was reduced by Anderson (who followed James Iliff) to just 20 species and in The New Cactus Lexicon the genus was dramatically reduced to just 4 species, one having 4 subspecies for a total of 7 taxa.

These plants are found often at high elevation in south-central South America. In cultivation, plants are only found through specialist nurseries or traded between growers. This is not unlike other Opuntiads which are often hated or loved by cactus growers with the former being more often the case.

Click on one of the species below for more info.

Cumulopuntia boliviana

Cumulopuntia boliviana


     21 images

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Cumulopuntia chichensis

Cumulopuntia chichensis


     No images

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Cumulopuntia corotilla

Cumulopuntia corotilla


     1 image

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Cumulopuntia crassicylindrica

Cumulopuntia crassicylindrica


     No images

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Cumulopuntia dactylifera

Cumulopuntia dactylifera


     3 images

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Cumulopuntia frigida

Cumulopuntia frigida


     No images

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Cumulopuntia fulvicoma

Cumulopuntia fulvicoma


     No images

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Cumulopuntia galerasensis

Cumulopuntia galerasensis


     No images

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Cumulopuntia hystrix

Cumulopuntia hystrix


     No images

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Cumulopuntia ignescens

Cumulopuntia ignescens


     20 images

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*Currently 20 of 20 known species in this genus are represented on CactiGuide.com.
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