Pereskia
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The genus Pereskia comprises 25 tropical species and varieties of leafy cacti. They originate from the region between Brazil and Mexico. The genus is named afterNicolas Fabre de Peiresc, a 16th century French botanist, which also has been given its own subfamily Pereskioideae. Members of this genus are usually referred to as lemon vines, rose cacti or leaf cacti, though the latter also refers to the genus Epiphyllum.
Species of Pereskia are very unusual cacti, generally resembling wild roses more than actual cacti. Pereskia species have large, bright green, privet-like leaves and long spiny stems. Not always succulent plants, they can be classified as shrubs, climbing plants or slightly succulent trees. Unlike Pereskiopsis, Maihuenia, Quiabentia and Austrocylindropuntia which have persistent succulent leaves, Pereskia is the only cactus genus that has persistent non-succulent leaves.
Shrub species usually grow to 1m in height, but climbing or arborescent species can reach 5 to 20 m. Flowers may appear alone or in clusters. They generally resemble roses and reach a diameter of 1 to 5 cm. Colors of the flower depend on each species and vary from white, yellow to magenta or red. Fruits are ordinarily spherical, of 2 to 5 cm diameter, and are wine red when ripe.
- Species and varieties
- Pereskia aculeata - Barbados gooseberry
- *Pereskia aculeata var. rotundifolia
- Pereskia aureiflora
- Pereskia bahiensis
- Pereskia bleo
- Pereskia colombiana
- Pereskia corrugata
- Pereskia cubensis
- Pereskia diaz-romeroana
- Pereskia godseffiana
- Pereskia grandifolia
- *Pereskia grandifolia var. violacea
- Pereskia guamacho
- Pereskia horrida
- Pereskia humboldtii
- *Pereskia humboldtii var. rauhii (syn. P. horrida)
- Pereskia lychnidiflora
- Pereskia marcanoi
- Pereskia nemorosa
- Pereskia philippi
- Pereskia portulacifolia
- Pereskia quisqueyana
- Pereskia sacharosa
- Pereskia stenantha
- Pereskia subulata
- Pereskia vargasii
- *Pereskia vaugasii var. longispina
- Pereskia weberiana
- Pereskia zehntneri
- Pereskia ziniiflora
- Pereskia zinniaefolia
The genus Rhodocactus (A.Berger) F.M.Knuth has been brought into synonymy with this genus, as well as different orthographic variants: Peirescia Zucc. (orth. var.), Peireskia Steud. (orth. var.) and Perescia Lem. (orth. var.).
Cultivation
These plant are easy to grow. They grow fast and flower prolifically. Being more tolerant of moisture than more succulent cacti, they can be used as rootstock for grafting of 'Zygocactus' or 'Novembercactus' to create miniature trees.Pereskias have been naturalised in the Caribbean, the West Indies and West Africa.
Active constituents
These species contain tyramine, and phenethylamine.
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