''Consolea moniliformis'' is a species of

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

that is native to the

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and ...

, on

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

(in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

and

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

), and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

(on the islands of Mona, Culebra and

Desecheo Desecheo ( es, Isla Desecheo) () is a small uninhabited island of the archipelago of Puerto Rico located in the northeast of the Mona Passage; from Rincón on the west coast ( Punta Higüero) of the main island of Puerto Rico and northeast ...

Names

Common names include: * English: necklacelike pricklypear * French: Opuntia patte-de-tortue, patte de tortue, patte tortue, raquette espagnole (

) *Spanish: alpargata ( Dominican Republic), tuna ( Puerto Rico) *

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...

: pat tôti, rakèt panyôl

Distribution and habitat

''Consolea moniliformis'' can be found at elevations from sea level to about 50 metres. In Cuba, it occurs in dry littoral forest, as well as limestone. In the city of Santiago de Cuba it is cultivated in gardens. In Puerto Rico, it occurs in open dry forests and is sparsely distributed, but occurs abundantly. On Hispaniola, the species is common in Hispaniolan dry forests.

Description

Yaiza El Golfo - Avenida Maritima - Consolea moniliformis 01 ies

It is a tree-like cactus species to 4(-7) m height, freely branching in the crowns. In this species, as in a few other

opuntia ''Opuntia'', commonly called prickly pear or pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', ''nopal'' (paddle, plural ''nopales'') from the Nahuatl word f ...

s, the fruits are quite proliferous, often in long chains of 2-5 (or more) individuals or forming compound clusters. They hang on for a number of years and usually remaining green. They are, however, easily detached, and, when falling to the ground, they readily take root and start new colonies.

Conservation

Its population is male-biased throughout the range. It is unknown whether there is seedling recruitment in the wild. Damage from the invasive moth ''

Cactoblastis cactorum ''Cactoblastis cactorum'', the cactus moth, South American cactus moth or nopal moth, is native to Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and southern Brazil. It is one of five species in the genus '' Cactoblastis'' that inhabit South America, where many pa ...

'' was not recorded in Dominican populations, but moderately present in Puerto Rican populations.

Deforestation in Haiti Deforestation in Haiti is a severe environmental problem. Haitians burn wood charcoal for 60% of their domestic energy production. In 1923 over 60% of Haiti's land was forested. In 2006, less than 2% of the land was forested. Targeting of Domin ...

has led to the suspicion of its extirpation there. Despite these threats, the species is considered Least Concern by the IUCN Red List.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1127465 Opuntioideae Plants described in 1926 Taxa named by Alwin Berger Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of the Caribbean Flora of the Dominican Republic Flora of Haiti Flora of Cuba Flora of Puerto Rico