e-Key v3 - *Pereskia
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Interactive keys to the identification of seed plants of southern Africa using keys based on plant morphology.

Cactaceae - *Pereskia Mill

Description :

  • Climbing stem-succulent shrubs 2-10 m tall
  • Branches terete, green
  • Areoles with 1-3 charcoal-grey spines; paired hooked thorns present
  • Leaves oblong to ovate, up to 70 mm long
  • Flowers in panicles; bracts few, elongated, leaf-like
  • Sepals 4-7, greenish
  • Petals 7-12, white, apices obtuse
  • Stamens of mature flower oblique
  • Ovary dark green, surface with spines
  • Fruit (ripe) yellow, ± 20 mm in diameter, skin smooth
  • Seeds black
  • x = 11

Nomenclature:

  • *Pereskia Mill
    • Miller: [1026] (1754)
    • Britton & Rose 1: 8 (1920)
    • Berger: 41 (1929)
    • Obermeyer: 156 (1976)
    • IOS working party: 69 (1986)
    • Leuenberger: 53 (1986)
    • IOS Working Party: 88 (1990)
    • Barthlott & Hunt: 171 (1993)

Distribution & Notes:

  • Global : Species 20, Central and South America
  • Southern Africa : * Pereskia aculeata Mill., is a serious pest in coastal forest in KwaZulu-Natal

References:

  • BARTHLOTT, W. & HUNT, D.R. 1993. Cactaceae . In K. Kubitzki, J.G. Rohwer & V. Bittrich, The families and genera of flowering plants 2. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
  • BERGER, A. 1929. Kakteen . Ulmer, Stuttgart
  • BRITTON, N.L. & ROSE, J.N. 1919-1923. The Cactaceae . Carnegie Institution, Washington
  • IOS WORKING PARTY 1986. The genera of the Cactaceae : towards a new consensus. Bradleya 4
  • IOS WORKING PARTY 1990. The genera of Cactaceae : progress towards consensus. Bradleya 8
  • LEUENBERGER, B.E. 1986. Pereskia - Cactaceae . Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 41
  • MILLER, P. 1754. The gardener's dictionary , abridged edn 4. Rivington, London
  • OBERMEYER, A.A. 1976. Cactaceae . Flora of southern Africa 22