Pereskia aculeata

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Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Ordo: Caryophyllales

Familia: Cactaceae
Subfamilia: Pereskioideae
Genus: Pereskia
Subgenus: P. subg. Pereskia
Series: P. ser. Pereskia
Species: Pereskia aculeata
Name

Pereskia aculeata Mill. (1768)

Lectotype (designated by Leuenberger, B. E. 19861): [illustration] Plate 227, fig. 294 of Dillenius, Hortus elthamensis. 1732

Synonyms

Cactus pereskia L., Sp. Pl.: 469. 1753 syn. sec. Leuenberger 1986
Pereskia pereskia (L.) H.Karst., Deut. Fl.: 888. 1882 syn. sec. Leuenberger 1986
Pereskia peireskia H.Karst. in Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 3(2): 107. 1898 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)

Pereskia aculeata is a scrambling shrub in the family Cactaceae. Common names include Barbados gooseberry, blade-apple cactus, leaf cactus, rose cactus, and lemonvine.[3] It is native to tropical America. The leaves and fruits are edible, containing high quantities of protein, iron and other nutrients, and it is a popular vegetable in parts of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais under the name of ora-pro-nóbis.

Description

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Like other members of the genus Pereskia, these plants are unusual cacti with spiny non-succulent stems and large leaves.

It is a scrambling vine growing to 10 m (33 ft) tall in trees, with stems 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) thick. Younger stems have hooked thorns and older stems have clusters of woody spines. The leaves are 4–11 cm (1.6–4.3 in) long and 1.5–4 cm (0.59–1.57 in) broad, simple, entire, and deciduous in the dry season. The strongly scented flowers are white, cream or pinkish, 2.5–5 cm (0.98–1.97 in) diameter, and numerous, produced in panicles. The fruit is a rounded berry, translucent white to pink, yellow, orange or red, and 2 cm (0.79 in) in diameter. The leaves are edible, containing 20 to 30% of protein in the dry leaf matter. The fruit are also edible, containing numerous small seeds. It somewhat resembles the gooseberry in appearance and is of excellent flavor.
Distribution
Native

Panama, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Paraguay.
Introduced

Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Virgin Islands (U.S.), United States, Mexico, South Africa and Australia.
Ecological significance

A flea-beetle (Phenrica guerini) and a leaf-mining moth (Epipagis cambogialis), feed on the leaves.

Although Pereskia aculeata is edible and of high nutrition quality, being an alternative to conventional food, this plant is a declared weed in South Africa where it does extensive damage to forest areas by smothering indigenous trees. Infestations occur in some KwaZulu-Natal forests and are embedded in the canopy and difficult to remove. The plant has a tendency to form large, impenetrable clumps and the spines on the stems make control of large infestations difficult. The plants can regrow from leaves or pieces of stem. One specimen that had infested a tree had its stems cut at the base, but after four years the 'dry' stems of the Pereskia that fell from the tree still set root and regrew.[4]
Control

These plants are extremely difficult to kill and eradicate. It can be controlled by triclopyr or biological control with the leaf-feeding flea-beetle, Phenrica guerini, which has caused significant damage to Pereskia plants at Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa, but although the beetle was also released widely in KwaZulu-Natal, it has not become established there.[5]

References

Taylor, N.P.; Zappi, D.; Braun, P.; Machado, M. (2017). "Pereskia aculeata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T46508A121558980. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T46508A121558980.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
"The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved 16 May 2014.
USDA GRIN Taxonomy, retrieved 3 May 2016
Purves et al. (1995)[full citation needed]

Klein, H. (1999). "Biological control of three cactaceous weeds, Pereskia aculeata Miller, Harrisia martinii (Labouret) Britton and Cereus jamacaru De Candolle in South Africa". African Entomology Memoir (1): 3–14. S2CID 55993058. AGRIS id ZA2001000773. CABI ISC 19992302942.

Grocer's Encyclopedia: The Encyclopedia of Food and Beverage, by Artemas Ward, New York, 1911.
http://www.hear.org/Pier/wra/pacific/pereskia_aculeata_htmlwra.htm
Pooley, E. (1998). A Field Guide to Wild Flowers; KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Region. ISBN 0-620-21500-3.
Cactus lucidus Salisb., Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton: 849. 1796, nom. illeg., syn. sec. Leuenberger 1986
Pereskia longispina Haw., Syn. Pl. Succ.: 178. 1812 syn. sec. Tropicos
Pereskia aculeata var. longispina (Haw.) DC., Prodr. 3: 475. 1828 syn. sec. Tropicos
Pereskia aculeata var. latifolia Salm-Dyck, Hort. Dyck.: 202. 1834 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Pereskia acardia J.Parm. ex Pfeiff., Enum. Diagn. Cact.: 176. 1837 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Pereskia arcadia J.Parm. ex Pfeiff., Enum. Diagn. Cact.: 176. 1837 syn. sec. The Plant List v. 1.1 2013 [non Pereskia acardia J.Parm. ex Pfeiff. 1837]
Pereskia aculeata var. lanceolata Pfeiff., Enum. Diagn. Cact.: 176. 1837 syn. sec. Leuenberger 1986
Pereskia aculeata var. rotundifolia Hort.Dyck. ex Pfeiff., Enum. Diagn. Cact.: 176. 1837 syn. sec. Leuenberger 1986
Pereskia aculeata var. rubescens Pfeiff., Enum. Diagn. Cact.: 176. 1837 syn. sec. Leuenberger 1986
Pereskia aculeata f. rubescens (Pfeiff.) Krainz, Kakteen 41A: A. 1969 syn. sec. Leuenberger 1986
Pereskia rubescens (Pfeiff.) Houghton in J. Cact. Succ. Soc. Amer. 1(2): 3. 1929 syn. sec. Leuenberger 1986
Pereskia brasiliensis Pfeiff., Enum. Diagn. Cact.: 176. 1837 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Pereskia braziliensis Pfeiff., Enum. Diagn. Cact.: 176. 1837 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Pereskia aculeata var. brasiliensis (Pfeiff.) Borg, Cacti, ed. 1: 50. 1937 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Pereskia fragrans Lem., Hort. Universel 2: 40. 1841 syn. sec. Tropicos
Pereskia undulata Lem., Ill. Hort. 5 (Misc.): 11. 1858 syn. sec. Leuenberger 1986
Pereskia aculeata var. rotunda Monach., Ill. Dict. Gard.: 589. 1901 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Pereskia foetens Speg. in Weingart in Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 14: 134. 1904 syn. sec. Tropicos
Pereskia godseffiana Anon. in Gard. Chron., ser. 3, 43: 257. 1908 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Pereskia aculeata var. godseffiana (Anon.) Backeb. & F.M.Knuth ex Krainz, Kakteen: A. 1969 syn. sec. Leuenberger 1986

Distribution
Native distribution areas:
References
Primary references

Miller, P. 1768. The Gardeners Dictionary: containing the best and newest methods of cultivating and improving the kitchen, fruit, flower garden, and nursery. Ed. 8, 3 volumes (without pagination), John & Francis Rivington, London. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.541 Reference page. : ed. 8: Pereskia.

Additional references

Korotkova, N., Aquino, D., Arias, S., Eggli, U., Franck, A. , Gómez-Hinostrosa, C., Guerrero, P.C., Hernández, H.M., Kohlbecker, A., Köhler, M., Luther, K., Majure, L.C., Müller, A., Metzing, D., Nyffeler, R., Sánchez, D., Schlumpberger, B. & Berendsohn, W.G. 2021. Cactaceae at Caryophyllales. org–a dynamic online species-level taxonomic backbone for the family. Willdenowia 51(2): 251–270. DOI: 10.3372/wi.51.51208 Open access Reference page.

Links

Korotkova, N. et al. 2022. Pereskia aculeata in Cactaceae at Caryophyllales.org. A global synthesis of species diversity in the angiosperm order Caryophyllales. Published online. Accessed: 2022 Jan 20. Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2022. Pereskia aculeata in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2022 Jan 20. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2022. Pereskia aculeata. Published online. Accessed: Jan 20 2022.
Tropicos.org 2022. Pereskia aculeata. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 20 Jan 2022.
The Plant List 2013. Version 1.1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 2014 Aug 27.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Pereskia aculeata in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 08-Apr-12.

Vernacular names
English: Barbados gooseberry, leaf cactus, blade-apple cactus
español: bugambilia blanca, camelia blanca, grosellero, jasmín de uvas, ramo de novia
français: Groseillier des Barbades
lietuvių: Dygliuotoji pereskija
português: Ora-pro-nobis, azedinha, Cipó-Santo, espinho-de-Santo-Antônio, espinho-preto, lobolôbô, surucucú
русский: Переския шиповатая