AusTraits

Opuntia microdasys

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Cactaceae

Taxonomy: Opuntia microdasys (Lehm.) Pfeiff.

Synonyms: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Cactus microdasys Lehm. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Opuntia sp. B (taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), SA (naturalised), Qld (doubtfully naturalised), NSW (naturalised), Vic (doubtfully naturalised)

Profiles: APC, Flora of Australia, ALA, iNaturalist, NSW Flora, SA eFlora, Vic Flora, Florabase, ATRP

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (4), ABRS_2023 (20), NHNSW_2014_2 (1), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (4), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (14), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (4), Stephens_2023 (1), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), eFLOWER_2021 (6). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 28 traits from 68 records in 13 datasets.

Traits by category (click to expand). For categorical traits, the values are listed. For numerical traits, the mean and range are shown.

flower morphology
  • flower_colour (categorical): yellow_orange (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 26.25 mm (25-30 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 21.25 mm (15-30 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_height (numerical): 21.25 mm (15-30 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): berry (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): purple (1); red (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_length (numerical): 59.38 mm (3-150 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 90 mm (60-120 mm) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): terete (2); widely_obovate (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • leaf_arrangement (categorical): spiral (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): cladode (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): shrub (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Wenk_2022]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): woody (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): creeping (3); spreading (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022]
  • pollination_system (categorical): bee (1) [sources: Stephens_2023]
seed morphology
  • seed_width (numerical): 2.5 mm (2-3 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 0.87 m (0.6-1 m) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
ABRS_20231420Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
RBGV_2023914VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
eFLOWER_202166J. Schönenberger, M. Balthazar, A. L. Martinez, B. Albert, C. Prieu, S. Magallon, and H. Sauquet. “Phylogenetic analysis of fossil flowers using an angiosperm-wide data set: proof-of-concept and challenges ahead”. American Journal of Botany 107.10 (2020), pp. 1433-1448. doi: 10.1002/ajb2.1538.
ABRS_202244Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NHNSW_202244N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
NHNSW_202344N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
RBGV_202244VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_202344S. H. of South Australia. eFlora of SA, Electronic Flora of South Australia. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/.
SAH_202233S. H. of South Australia. eFlora of SA, Electronic Flora of South Australia. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
NHNSW_2014_211Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Stephens_202311R. E. Stephens, R. V. Gallagher, L. Dun, W. Cornwell, and H. Sauquet. “Insect pollination for most of angiosperm evolutionary history”. New Phytologist 240.2 (2023), pp. 880-891. ISSN: 1469-8137. doi: 10.1111/nph.18993.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.