⚠ Version 1 of The Plant List has been superseded.

You should refer instead to the current version of The Plant List.

The genus Opuntia is in the family Cactaceae in the major group Angiosperms (Flowering plants).

Statistics are at the end of the page.

Species in Opuntia

• Jump to species starting with:
• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• Y
• Z

See "Status", "Confidence level", "Source" for definitions.

Name	Status	Confi­dence level	Source
Opuntia aequatorialis Britton & Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia anacantha Speg.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia apurimacensis (F. Ritter) R. Crook & Mottram	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia arenaria Engelm.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia arrastradillo Backeb.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia articulata (Pfeiff.) D.R. Hunt	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia assumptionis K. Schum.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia atrispina Griffiths	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia atroglobosa (Backeb. ex F. Ritter) R. Crook & Mottram	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia atropes Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia auberi Pfeiff.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia aurantiaca Lindl.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia aurea E.M. Baxter	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia aureispina (S. Brack & K.D. Heil) Pinkava & B.D. Parfitt	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia azurea Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia bakeri Madsen	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia basilaris Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia bensonii Sánchez-Mej.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia bisetosa Pittier	Accepted		WCSP (in review)
Opuntia blancii (Backeb.) G.D. Rowley	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia boldinghii Britton & Rose	Accepted		WCSP (in review)
Opuntia bonplandii (Kunth) F.A.C. Weber	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia bravoana Baxter	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia cantabrigiensis Lynch	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia caracassana Salm-Dyck	Accepted		WCSP (in review)
Opuntia chaffeyi Britton & Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia chlorotica Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia × cochinera Griffiths	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia cognata (F. Ritter) P.J. Braun & Esteves	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia colorea (F. Ritter) D.R. Hunt	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia colubrina A. Cast.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia × columbiana Griffiths (pro sp.)	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia corotilla K. Schum. ex Vaupel	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia crassa Haw.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia crassicylindrica (Rauh & Backeb.) G.D. Rowley	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia crystalenia Griffiths	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia cubensis Britton & Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia curassavica (L.) Mill.	Accepted		WCSP (in review)
Opuntia cyclodes (Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow) Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia cylindrica (Lam.) DC.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia deamii Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia decumbens Salm-Dyck	Accepted		WCSP (in review)
Opuntia delaetiana (F.A.C. Weber) Vaupel	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia depressa Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia dillenii (Ker Gawl.) Haw.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia discolor Britton & Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia durangensis Britton & Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia echios Howell	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia eichlamii Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia elata Link & Otto ex Salm-Dyck	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia elatior Mill.	Accepted		WCSP (in review)
Opuntia elizondoana E. Sanchez M. & Villasenor	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia ellisiana Griffiths	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia engelmannii Salm-Dyck	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia erinacea Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia excelsa Sánchez-Mej.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia feroacantha Rose ex J.G. Ortega	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.	Accepted		WCSP (in review)
Opuntia ficus-indica x soederstromiana	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia fragilis (Nutt.) Haw.	Accepted		WCSP (in review)
Opuntia fuliginosa Griffiths	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia fulvicoma (Rauh & Backeb.) G.D. Rowley	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia galapageia Hemsl.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia grandis Pfeiff.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia guilanchi Griffiths	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia helleri K. Schum. ex B.L. Rob.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia hirschii (Backeb.) G.D. Rowley	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia hitchcockii J.G. Ortega	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia howeyi J.A. Purpus	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia huajuapensis Bravo	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia humifusa (Raf.) Raf.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia hyptiacantha F.A.C. Weber	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia inaequilaterlis A. Berger	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia inaperta (Schott ex Griffiths) D.R. Hunt	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia infesta (F. Ritter) Iliff	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia insularis Stewart	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia jaliscana Bravo	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia joconostle F.A.C. Weber	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia karwinskiana Salm-Dyck	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia lagopus K. Schum.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia lagunae Baxter ex Bravo	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia lasiacantha Pfeiff.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia leucotricha DC.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia lilae Trujillo & Marisela Ponce	Accepted		WCSP (in review)
Opuntia limitata (F. Ritter) P.J. Braun & Esteves	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia littoralis (Engelm.) Cockerell	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia lutea (Rose) Solomon	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia macrocentra Engelm.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia macrorhiza Engelm.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia marnieriana Backeb.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia martiniana (L.D. Benson) B.D. Parfitt	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia megacantha Salm-Dyck	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia megapotamica Arechav.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia megarhiza Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia megasperma Howell	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia microdasys (Lehm.) Pfeiff.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia mistiensis (Backeb.) G.D. Rowley	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia monacantha Haw.	Accepted		WCSP (in review)
Opuntia nejapensis Bravo	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia neochrysacantha Bravo	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia nuda (Backeb.) G.D. Rowley	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia opuntia (L.) J.M. Coult.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia orbiculata Salm-Dyck ex Pfeiff.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia oricola Philbrick	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia pachypus K. Schum.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia pailana Weing.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia paraguayensis K. Schum.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia parviclada S. Arias & see Gama Lopez, Susana	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia penicilligera Speg.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia phaeacantha Engelm.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia pilifera F.A.C. Weber	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia pituitosa (F. Ritter) Iliff	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia plumbea Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia polyacantha Haw.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia pubescens H.L.Wendl. ex Pfeiff.	Accepted		WCSP (in review)
Opuntia pumila Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia punta-caillan (Rauh & Backeb.) G.D. Rowley	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia pycnantha Engelm.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia pyriformis Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia pyrrhacantha K. Schum.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia quimilo K. Schum.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia quitensis F.A.C. Weber	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia rastrera F.A.C. Weber	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia rileyi J.G. Ortega	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia ritteri A. Berger	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia riviereana Backeb.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia robinsonii J.G. Ortega	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia robusta J.C. Wendl.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia rosea (hort. ex A. Dietr.) K. Schum.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia salmiana Parm. ex Pfeiff.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia santarita (Griffiths & Hare) Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia saxatilis (F. Ritter) P.J. Braun & Esteves	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia saxicola Howell	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia scheeri F.A.C. Weber	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia schickendantzii F.A.C. Weber	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia schumannii F.A.C.Weber ex A.Berger	Accepted		WCSP (in review)
Opuntia soederstromiana Britton & Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia × spinosibacca M. S. Anthony (pro sp.)	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia spinulifera Salm-Dyck	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia spraguei J.G. Ortega	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia staffordae Bullock	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia stenopetala Engelm.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia streptacantha Lem.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw.	Accepted		WCSP (in review)
Opuntia strigil Engelm.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia sulphurea G. Don	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia tapona Engelm. ex J.M. Coult.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia tehuacana S. Arias & see Guzman Cruz, Leonardo Ulises	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia tehuantepecana (Bravo) Bravo	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia tomentosa Salm-Dyck	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia triacantha (Willd.) Sweet	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia tuna (L.) Mill.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia undulata Griffiths	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia unguispina Backeb.	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia × vaseyi (J.M. Coult.) Britton & Rose (pro sp.)	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia velutina F.A.C. Weber	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia viridirubra (F. Ritter) P.J. Braun & Esteves	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia wilcoxii Britton & Rose	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia yanganucensis (Rauh & Backeb.) G.D. Rowley	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia zamudioi Scheinvar	Accepted		TRO
Opuntia zehnderi (Rauh & Backeb.) G.D. Rowley	Accepted		TRO

Statistics

The Plant List includes 930 scientific plant names of species rank for the genus Opuntia. Of these 161 are accepted species names.

The Plant List includes a further 240 scientific plant names of infraspecific rank for the genus Opuntia. We do not intend The Plant List to be complete for names of infraspecific rank. These are primarily included because names of species rank are synonyms of accepted infraspecific names.

Species names

The status of the 930 species names for the genus Opuntia recorded in The Plant List, are as follows:

	Status	Total
◕	Accepted	161	17.3%
◕	Synonym	380	40.9%
◕	Unplaced	0	0%
◕	Unassessed	389	41.8%

All names

The status of the 1,170 names (including infraspecific names) for the genus Opuntia recorded in The Plant List, are as follows:

	Status	Total
◕	Accepted	199	17.0%
◕	Synonym	565	48.3%
◕	Unplaced	0	0%
◕	Unassessed	406	34.7%

The confidence with which the status of the 930 species names recorded in The Plant List for the genus Opuntia, are assigned as follows:

	Confidence level	Accepted	Synonym	Unplaced	Unassessed	Total
	High confidence	0	0	0	0	0	0%
	Medium confidence	151	339	0	0	490	52.7%
	Low confidence	10	41	0	389	440	47.3%

The source of the species name record found in The Plant List for the genus Opuntia, are as follows: