''Opuntia abjecta'' is a short

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 ...

, perhaps to 15(25) cm tall. It occurs in the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

and has been conflated with ''O. triacantha''. Recent work shows that the two taxa are distinct. In addition to morphological and phylogenetic (DNA) differences, ''O. triacantha'' occurs in Cuba, whereas ''O. abjecta'' occurs in Florida. Currently It is Listed as critically by the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

Details

''O. abjecta'' grows on humus over limestone or even on bare limestone. Cladodes are typically 2.5 cm long by 4–5 cm long. The cladodes do not shatter, but do deattach from each other with some ease. ''O. abjecta'' is a small plant with radiating branches, a subshrub. Retrorsely barbed spines are reddish-brown as they develop; they mature to pale white (not bright white). Zero to three spines are produced by terminal cladodes. Generally, the spines of ''O. abjecta'' are shorter than 4 cm. The flower bud of ''O. ajbjecta'' is rounded (not acute). ''O. abjecta'' has teardrop-shaped leaves. The seeds are about 4 mm in diameter.

References

External links

''Opuntia abjecta'' original description, retrieved June 27, 2017''Opuntia abjecta'' photo gallery at Opuntia Web
{{Taxonbar, from=Q41793127 abjecta