Pereskia weberiana

Description

A cactus that is like a succulent. The stems are slender and branched. It has spines. The leaves are oval. The flowers are white/pink.

This description is brief — help expand it

Edible Uses

The genus is not of great economic importance. Pereskia aculeata has edible fruit and is widely cultivated. The fruit contains numerous small seeds. It somewhat resembles a gooseberry in appearance and is of excellent flavor. This plant is a declared weed in South Africa. It can also be used as a rootstock for grafting of Schlumbergera to create miniature trees.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It grows in seasonally dry areas. In Bolivia it grows up to 2,000 m above sea level

Where It Grows

Andes, Bolivia*, South America,

Cultivation

Most Pereskia species occur in dry forests and thorn-scrub habitats in a tropical climate with a more or less pronounced dry season of about two to five months. The plant has fleshy root swellings that enable it to survive long periods of drought during which some or even all distal stem parts may die off to near the rootstock. In cultivation the fruits mature within a few weeks after flowering.

Synonyms

References (1)

• Reis, S. V. and Lipp, F. L., 1982, New Plant Sources for Drugs and Foods from the New York Botanical Garden herbarium. Harvard. p 201

More from Cactaceae

Mammillaria heyderi subsp. meiacantha

Ball cactus, Cream cactus, Cream pincushion, Flat cream pincushion, Heyder's nipple cactus, Heyder's pincushion, Nipple cactus, Pancake pincushion, Small-spined cream pincushion

Mammillaria lasiacantha

Mammillaria magnimamma

Mexican pincushion

Mammillaria mainiae

Counterclockwise nipple cactus

Mammillaria mammillaris

Mammillaria mazatlanensis