Pereskia aculeata

Pereskia aculeata
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Genus:	Pereskia
Species:	P. aculeata
Binomial name
Pereskia aculeata Mill.
Synonyms
List Cactus lucidus Salisb. Cactus pereskia L. Pereskia foetens Speg. in Weingart Pereskia fragrans Lem. Pereskia godseffiana hort. Pereskia longispina Haw. Pereskia pereskia (L.) H.Karst. nom. inval. Pereskia rubescens Houghton Pereskia undulata Lem.

Pereskia aculeata is a scrambling shrub in the family Cactaceae. Common names include Barbados gooseberry, blade-apple cactus, leaf cactus, rose cactus, and lemonvine. It is native to tropical America. The leaves and fruits are edible, containing high quantities of protein, iron and other nutrients, and it is a popular vegetable in parts of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais under the name of ora-pro-nóbis.

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• Pereskia aculeata old stem Ilanda.JPG
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Description

Like other members of the genus Pereskia, these plants are unusual cacti with spiny non-succulent stems and large leaves.

It is a scrambling vine growing to 10 m (33 ft) tall in trees, with stems 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) thick. Younger stems have hooked thorns and older stems have clusters of woody spines. The leaves are 4–11 cm (1.6–4.3 in) long and 1.5–4 cm (0.59–1.57 in) broad, simple, entire, and deciduous in the dry season. The strongly scented flowers are white, cream or pinkish, 2.5–5 cm (0.98–1.97 in) diameter, and numerous, produced in panicles. The fruit is a rounded berry, translucent white to pink, yellow, orange or red, and 2 cm (0.79 in) in diameter. The leaves are edible, containing 20 to 30% of protein in the dry leaf matter. The fruit are also edible, containing numerous small seeds. It somewhat resembles the gooseberry in appearance and is of excellent flavor.

Distribution

Native

Panama, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Virgin Islands (U.S.), French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Paraguay.

Introduced

United States, Grenada by (David The Good), Mexico, South Africa and Australia.

Ecological significance

A flea-beetle (Phenrica guérini) and a leaf-mining moth (Epipagis cambogialis), feed on the leaves.

Although Pereskia aculeata is edible and of high nutrition quality, making it a useful alternative to conventional food crops, this plant is a declared weed in South Africa where it does extensive damage to forest areas by smothering indigenous trees. Infestations occur in some KwaZulu-Natal forests and are embedded in the canopy and difficult to remove. The plant has a tendency to form large, impenetrable clumps and the spines on the stems make control of large infestations difficult. The plants can regrow from leaves or pieces of stem. One specimen that had infested a tree had its stems cut at the base, but after four years the 'dry' stems of the Pereskia that fell from the tree still set root and regrew.

Control

File:Pereskia aculeata cut stem Ilanda.JPG

An old cut stem showing regrowth despite not being in contact with the ground.

These plants are extremely difficult to kill and eradicate. It can be controlled by Triclopyr or biological control with the leaf-feeding flea-beetle, Phenrica guérini, which has caused significant damage to Pereskia plants at Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa, but although the beetle was also released widely in KwaZulu-Natal, it has not become established there.

References

• Grocer's Encyclopedia: The Encyclopedia of Food and Beverage, by Artemas Ward, New York, 1911.
• http://www.hear.org/Pier/wra/pacific/pereskia_aculeata_htmlwra.htm
• Pooley, E. (1998). A Field Guide to Wild Flowers; KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Region. ISBN 0-620-21500-3.

• Taylor (2002). Pereskia aculeata. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 9 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
• Purves et al. (1995)