Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Opuntia megasperma var. mesophytica
tuna
![Opuntia megasperma Howell Photo: Frank Bungartz, CDF, 2007.](https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/images/checklist/hx_0168.jpg)
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![Pollen grain of Opuntia megasperma var. mesophytica (scanning electron micrograph). Photo: Patricia Jaramillo Díaz & M. Mar Trigo, CDF, 2011.](https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/images/checklist/opuntia_megasperma_varmesophytica14995c.jpg)
![Pollen grain of Opuntia megasperma var. mesophytica (scanning electron micrograph). Photo: Patricia Jaramillo Díaz & M. Mar Trigo, CDF, 2011.](https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/images/checklist/opuntia_megasperma_varmesophytica14995d.jpg)
![Pollen grain of Opuntia megasperma var. mesophytica (scanning electron micrograph). Photo: Patricia Jaramillo Díaz & M. Mar Trigo, CDF, 2011.](https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/images/checklist/opuntia_megasperma_varmesophytica14995e.jpg)
![Opuntia megasperma Howell Photo: Frank Bungartz, CDF, 2007.](https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/images/checklist/hx_0168.jpg)
An impressive tree cactus with flat, spiny pads. The flowers are bright yellow. Adult cacti have orange-brown trunks with flaking bark and upper branches forming a crown. Popular in gardens for its sculpture-like quality.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Caryophyllales
Family
Cactaceae
Genus
Opuntia
Species
megasperma
Subspecies
var. mesophytica
Taxon category: Species with Infraspecific Taxa
Taxon origin: Endemic
- Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
- 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 Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished.
- 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.
- Hicks, D.J. Mauchamp, A. (1996) Evolution and conservation biology of the Galapagos Opuntias (Cactaceae). Yearbook Cactus Succulent Soc. Am. 4:
- Jaramillo, P. (1998) Distribución Espacial de la Vegetación Vascular y Dispersión de Especies Introducidas dentro del Parque Nacional Galápagos. Tesis de Doctorado en Biología, Universidad Central del Ecuador. Especialización ECOLOGIA DE POBLACIONES.
- 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.
- Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
- Poorman, L.H. (1983) New molluscan species (Gastropoda: Neogastropoda) from the tropical eastern Pacific. The Veliger 26(1): 5-9.
- Lundh, J.P. (1970) A New Variety Opuntia megasperma from the Galápagos Islands. Madroño 20(5): 254.