biology

Introduction Multiple references were consulted during the construction of this prickly pear website–Opuntia Web. There are countless confusing references about cacti in general and Opuntias in particular; there are often many names that refer to the same species of cactus. We worked our way through them to decide Opuntia names. Generally, we chose names that

Opuntia DNA and Ploidy An index to published chromosome information of many cacti and prickly pears is the Chromosome Counts Database, Rice et al., 2016, Website.  Ploidy information for many Opuntia species of the USA may also be found in “Pricklypears Commonly Found in the United States and Northern Mexico”, Green, C with Ferguson, D, 2012

Introduction The first iteration of Opuntia Web was built in 2005. Our scientists identified Opuntia species in the field. We visited the western states to study cacti in habitat. We also visited Florida, the southern Atlantic states, and the Midwest to observe cacti in those regions (e.g., O. macrarthra). We made a visit to Pennsylvania to verify the presence of O.