Cylindropuntia imbricata (Imbricate
cactus, Imbricate prickly pear, Tree cholla, Chain-link cactus)
[= Opuntia imbricata] Imbrikaatkaktus, Kabelturksvy
[Afrikaans] Life
> eukaryotes >
Archaeoplastida >
Chloroplastida
>
Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants)
> Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants)
> Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering
plants) > Core Eudicots
> Order: Caryophyllales >
Familty: Cactaceae > Genus:
Cylindropuntia
Native to southwestern USA and northern Mexico.
Naturalised in southern Africa where it is a declared
Category 1 invasive plant in South Africa. It has
been brought under substantial biological control by Dactylopius
tomentosus, a cochineal bug.
Ecological interactions in southern Africa
Herbivores
Metamasius spinolae (Coleoptera:
Curculionidae) was released in 1974, but did not become established
(Klein 2011).
Text by Hamish Robertson |