Opuntia sp.

Prickly Pear at Hughes, ACT

Opuntia sp. at Hughes, ACT - 20 Oct 2018
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Identification history

Opuntia sp. 3 Nov 2018 MichaelMulvaney
Opuntia sp. 21 Oct 2018 ACTBioSecurity
Opuntia puberula 20 Oct 2018 ACTBioSecurity

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User's notes

Spotted by Ranger Harley A/g Invasive Plants Officer

5 comments

   21 Oct 2018
Very similar to the pear next to Ainslie village, mapped on collector. I'll grab a photo of it and post on CNM for comparison.
   21 Oct 2018
Seems O. puberula is now O. decumbens - found all these photos of it https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/274367-Opuntia-decumbens/browse_photos?fbclid=IwAR1TpDzF9fSxTO5XYHTBLMj4CS1QVALWOzbCK9aNgPXQ6mQB2VinxXfSjw0 Looks similar....
BettyDonWood wrote:
   21 Oct 2018
It is now Opuntia decumbens overseas. However APNI, that records approved names for Australia, does not mention Opuntia decumbens, even as a synonym.
Mike wrote:
   21 Oct 2018
This doesn't have the brown bristles of Opuntia puberula and the spines are too long. See https://canberra.naturemapr.org/Community/Sightings/Details/3376518 which was identified as O. puberula by the National Herbarium.
   21 Oct 2018
Yes agree spines too long. Off to herbarium with this one then. Well done to Ranger Harley A/g Invasive Plants Officer for stopping to collect a suspicious looking species. Has spread fairly quickly so it will be interesting to see which Opuntia species it is.

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Location information

Sighting information

Additional information

  • 10cm to 30cm Plant height

Species information

  • Opuntia sp. Scientific name
  • Prickly Pear Common name
  • Not Sensitive
  • Exotic
  • Medium weed or pest
  • Up to 767m Recorded at altitude
  • Machine learning
  • In flower
  • External link More information

Record quality

  • Images or audio
  • More than one media file
  • Verified by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
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