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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 for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word for the fruit; or paddle cactus. The genus is named for the Ancient Greek city of Opus, where, according to Theophrastus, an edible plant grew and could be propagated by rooting its leaves. The most common culinary species is the Indian fig opuntia (''O. ficus-indica''). Description ''O. ficus-indica'' is a large, trunk-forming, segmented cactus that may grow to with a crown of over in diameter and a trunk diameter of . Cladodes (large pads) are green to blue-green, bearing few spines up to or may be spineless. Prickly pears typically grow with flat, rounded cladodes (also called platyclades) containing large, smooth, fixed spines and small, hairlike prickles called glochids th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opuntia Galapageia
''Opuntia galapageia'' is a species of cactus. It is endemic to the Galápagos Islands, part of Ecuador. Forms occurring on different islands have been treated as separate species and subtaxa of these species. ''Opuntia echios'', ''Opuntia helleri'', ''Opuntia insularis'', ''Opuntia megasperma'', ''Opuntia myriacantha'' and ''Opuntia saxicola'' are now sunk within ''O. galapageia''. Taxonomy ''Opuntia galapageia'' was first described by John Stevens Henslow in 1837. It was first recorded by Charles Darwin on Santiago (James) Island. Darwin was ashore there for nine days in 1835. Subsequently, at least five other species of ''Opuntia'' were described from the Galápagos: ''Opuntia helleri'', ''Opuntia insularis'', ''Opuntia megasperma'', ''Opuntia myriacantha'' and ''Opuntia saxicola''. All were treated by David Hunt in 2006 as included within ''O. galapageia'', a placement accepted by the IUCN Red List as of 2017, although they had been assessed as separate speci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Fig Opuntia
''Opuntia ficus-indica'', the Indian fig opuntia, fig opuntia, or prickly pear, is a species of cactus that has long been a domesticated crop plant grown in agricultural economies throughout arid and semiarid parts of the world. ''O. ficus-indica'' is the most widespread and most commercially important cactus. It is grown primarily as a fruit crop, and also for the vegetable nopales and other uses. Cacti are good crops for dry areas because they efficiently convert water into biomass. ''O. ficus-indica'', as the most widespread of the long-domesticated cactuses, is as economically important as maize and blue agave in Mexico. ''Opuntia'' species hybridize easily, but the wild origin of ''O. ficus-indica'' is likely to have been in central Mexico, where its closest genetic relatives are found. Names Most culinary references to the "prickly pear" refer to this species. The Spanish name ''tuna'' is also used for the fruit of this cactus and for ''Opuntia'' in general; according to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 word (''káktos''), a name originally used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant whose identity is now not certain. Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Although some species live in quite humid environments, most cacti live in habitats subject to at least some drought. Many live in extremely dry environments, even being found in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. Because of this, cacti show many adaptations to conserve water. For example, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the only part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opuntia Littoralis
''Opuntia littoralis'' is a species of Opuntia, prickly pear cactus known by the common name coastal pricklypear. It is sometimes called the sprawling prickly pear due to its short stems and habit of growing close to the ground. ''"Littoral"'' means "pertaining to the seashore".Flowering Plants of the Santa Monica Mountains, Nancy Dale, 2nd Ed., 2000, p. 88 Distribution ''Opuntia littoralis'' is native to southern California and Baja California, where it grows in coastal sage scrub and chaparral habitats. The cactus is variable in appearance; there are several varieties and Hybrid (biology), hybrids with similar species are commonly found. Description ''Opuntia littoralis'' generally grows in dense clumps spreading several meters wide and up to a meter-3 feet tall. The branches are made up of oval-shaped flat segments up to long. It is covered in clusters of yellowish spines long. The flowers are pale yellow to dull redBruce D. Parfitt 2012, Opuntia littoralis, in Jepson Flora ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nopal
Nopal (from the Nahuatl word for the pads of the plant) is a common name in Spanish for ''Opuntia'' cacti (commonly referred to in English as ''prickly pear''), as well as for its pads. There are about 114 known species in Mexico, where it is a common ingredient in numerous Mexican cuisine dishes. The nopal pads can be eaten raw or cooked, used in marmalades, soups, stews and salads, as well as being used for traditional medicine or as fodder for animals. Farmed nopales are most often of the species ''Opuntia ficus-indica'' or '' Opuntia matudae'' although the pads of almost all ''Opuntia'' species are edible. The other part of the nopal cactus that is edible is the fruit, called the in Spanish and the "prickly pear" in English. Nopales are generally sold fresh in Mexico, cleaned of thorns, and sliced to the customer's desire on the spot. They can also be found canned or bottled as nopalitos, and less often dried, especially for export. Cut into slices or diced into cubes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opus, Greece
Opus ( grc, Ὀποῦς, Opoûs or Ὀπόεις) was an ancient Greek city that was the chief city of a tribe of Locri, who were called from this place the Opuntian Locrians, and the territory, the Opuntian Locris. It was located on the coast of mainland Greece opposite Euboea, perhaps at modern Atalanti. Its harbor was at Kynos. It stood at the head of the Opuntian Gulf, a little inland, being 15 '' stadia'' from the shore according to Strabo, or only a mile according to Livy. Opus was believed to be one of the most ancient towns in Greece. Pindar's ninth Olympian ode concerns Opus. It was said to have been founded by Opus, a son of Locrus and Protogeneia; and in its neighbourhood Deucalion and Pyrrha were reported to have resided. It was the native city of Patroclus, and it is mentioned in the Homeric Catalogue of Ships as one of the Locrian towns whose troops were led by Ajax the Lesser, son of Oileus the king of Locris, in the ''Iliad'' There were games called Aiant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glochid
Glochids or glochidia (singular "glochidium") are hair-like spines or short prickles, generally barbed, found on the areoles of cacti in the sub-family ''Opuntioideae''. Cactus glochids easily detach from the plant and lodge in the skin, causing irritation upon contact. The tufts of glochids in the areoles nearly cover the stem surfaces of some cactus species, each tuft containing hundreds of glochids; this may be in addition to, or instead of, the larger, more conspicuous cactus spines, which do not readily detach and are not generally barbed. Mechanical irritant dermatitis Reaction to the glochidia Most cacti possess spines, some large enough to cause serious wounds. Glochids however, though smaller, commonly induce more troublesome, more persistent, dermatological manifestations in humans. Though minute, glochids commonly are barbed and once they have penetrated the skin barbed glochids are practically impossible to dislodge without leaving scraps of foreign material in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck
Joseph Franz Maria Anton Hubert Ignatz Fürst und Altgraf zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck (4 September 1773 at Castle Dyck near Neuss – 21 March 1861 in Nice) was a German amateur botanist and owner of Castle Dyck. Dyck was a member of an important aristocratic family that had ruled a small territory until the German mediatisation, mediatisation of small German states in the early 19th century. His wife, Constance de Salm, was a poet and miscellaneous writer. Works * ''Monographia generum Aloes et Mesembryanthemi'': ** ''Fasciculus 1'' . Arnz, Düsseldorpii [1836Digital editionby the University and State Library Düsseldorf ** ''Fasciculus 2'' . Arnz, Düsseldorpii [1836Digital editionby the University and State Library Düsseldorf ** ''Fasciculus 3'' . Arnz, Düsseldorpii [1836Digital editionby the University and State Library Düsseldorf ** ''Fasciculus 4'' . Arnz, Düsseldorpii [1836Digital editionby the University and State Library Düsseldorf References 1773 bir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyphenols
Polyphenols () are a large family of naturally occurring organic compounds characterized by multiples of phenol units. They are abundant in plants and structurally diverse. Polyphenols include flavonoids, tannic acid, and ellagitannin, some of which have been used historically as dyes and for tanning garments. Etymology The name derives from the Ancient Greek word (''polus'', meaning "many, much") and the word phenol which refers to a chemical structure formed by attaching to an aromatic benzenoid ( phenyl) ring to a hydroxyl (-OH) group as is found in alcohols (hence the ''-ol'' suffix). The term polyphenol has been in use at least since 1894. Definition The term polyphenol is not well-defined, but is generally agreed that they are natural products "having a polyphenol structure (i.e., several hydroxyl groups on aromatic rings)" including four principal classes: "phenolic acids, flavonoids, stilbenes, and lignans". *Flavonoids include flavones, flavonols, flavanols, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phytochemicals
Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants, generally to help them resist fungi, bacteria and plant virus infections, and also consumption by insects and other animals. The name comes . Some phytochemicals have been used as poisons and others as traditional medicine. As a term, ''phytochemicals'' is generally used to describe plant compounds that are under research with unestablished effects on health, and are not scientifically defined as essential nutrients. Regulatory agencies governing food labeling in Europe and the United States have provided guidance for industry to limit or prevent health claims about phytochemicals on food product or nutrition labels. Definition Phytochemicals are chemicals of plant origin. Phytochemicals (from Greek ''phyto'', meaning "plant") are chemicals produced by plants through primary or secondary metabolism. They generally have biological activity in the plant host and play a role in plant growth or defense against competit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet (in botanical nomenclature, also s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_flowering_at_Secunderabad%2C_AP_W_IMG_6673.jpg "Click for more on -> Indian Fig Opuntia")
