Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Opuntia echios var. gigantea
tuna gigante, cacto gigante, cactus gigante, prickly pear cactus
An impressive tree cactus with flat, spiny pads. The flowers are bright yellow. Adult cacti have orange-brown trunks with flaking bark. Popular in gardens for the sculpture-like quality.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Caryophyllales
Family
Cactaceae
Genus
Opuntia
Species
echios
Subspecies
var. gigantea
Taxon category: Species with Infraspecific Taxa
Syn.: Opuntia zacana Howell.; Wiggins & Porter (1971) as Opuntia galapageia var. gigantea Backeb.
Origin: Endemic
- Anderson, E.F. (1967.) An Account of My Cactus Collecting Trip to the Galapagos Islands. Cactus and Succulent J. Amer. 39:186-199.
- Blake, S. Wikelski, M., Cabrera, F., Guézou, A., Silva, M., Sadeghayobi, E., Yackulik, C. & Jaramillo, P. (2011) Gardeners of Galapagos? Seed dispersal by giant tortoises. Journal of Biogeography (submission): 1-41.
- Davis, S. (1987) El centro mundial para el monitoreo de la conservación y las floras insulares amenazadas. Memorias. Taller sobre investigación Botánica y Manejo en Galápagos. Pg. 304-314
- Helsen, P. Verdyck, P., Tye, A., Van Dongen, S. (2008) Low levels of genetic differentiation between Opuntia echios varieties on Santa Cruz (Galápagos) Springer-Verlag. 2009
- Hicks, D.J. Mauchamp, A. (1996) Evolution and conservation biology of the Galapagos Opuntias (Cactaceae). Yearbook Cactus Succulent Soc. Am. 4:
- Howell, J.T. (1933) The Cactaceae of the Galapagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 21(5): 41-54.
- Itow, S. (1997) List of Plant Specimens collected in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Bulletin of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Nagasaki University, Natural Science, 38 (1): 53-144.
- Jørgensen, P.M. León-Yánez, S. (eds.) (1999) Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 75. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, 1181 pp.
- Lawesson, J.E. Adsersen, H. & Bentley, P. (1987) An updated and annotated check list of the vascular plants of the Galapagos islands. Rept. Bot. Inst., Univ. Aarhus 16: 1-74.
- Lundh, J.P. (1995) Some additional information and comments on the Annotated Check list of Vascular Plants of the Galapagos Islands by Lawesson, Adsersen and Bentley. Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished.
- McMullen, C.K. (1987) Biologia reproductiva de las Angiospermas de las Islas Galapágos. Pg. 39 - 52. Memorias: Taller sobre investigación Botànica y manejo en galapágos.
- Porter, D.M. (1978) Nomenclatural Changes in Spilanthes, Lycopersicum and Opuntia for the Galápagos Islands. Madroño 25(1): 58-59.
- Schönitzer, K. (1975) Galápagos Plants. Privately Published, Quito: 1-43.
- Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
- Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Opuntia echios var. gigantea", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=239. Accessed 19 December 2025.