Opuntia humifusa sensu stricto (Cactaceae): New to Kentucky (U.S.A.) and confirmed in the Unglaciated Appalachian Plateaus

Authors

  • Paul Adanick Department of Agriculture, Eastern Kentucky University
  • Max E. Medley

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17348/jbrit.v14.i1.890

Keywords:

Opuntia humifusa, prickly pear cactus, distribution, Unglaciated Appalachian Plateaus Province

Abstract

A new population of Opuntia humifusa (Raf.) Raf. was found in Pike County, Kentucky. Consequent examination of other misidentified populations in Kentucky (Harlan and Pike counties) and West Virginia (Jackson County) provides the first known occurrences of Opuntia humifusa (sensu stricto) in Kentucky and a confirmed range extension into the Unglaciated Appalachian Plateaus Province.

References

Campbell, J.J.N. & M.E. Medley. 2012. The atlas of vascular plants in Kentucky. Current draft posted at www.bluegrasswoodland.com. New version in development. http://carexmisera.com/KyPlantAtlas/TaxonList.jsp Accessed Oct 2019.

Majure, L.C. 2007. The ecology and morphological variation of Opuntia (Cactaceae) species in the mid-south, United States. M.S. Thesis, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, U.S.A.

Majure, L.C., W.S. Judd, P.S. Soltis, & D.E. Soltis. 2012. Cytogeography of the Humifusa clade of Opuntia s.s. Mill. 1754 (Cactaceae: Opuntioideae): Correlations with geographic distributions and morphological differentiation of a polyploid complex. Comp. Cytogenet. 6:53–77.

Majure, L.C., W.S. Judd, P.S. Soltis, & D.E. Soltis. 2017. Taxonomic revision of the Opuntia humifusa complex (Opuntieae: Cactaceae) of the eastern United States. Phytotaxa 290:1–65.

Rice, C.L. 1986. Pennsylvanian System. In: McDowell Robert, C. ed. The geology of Kentucky; a text to accompany the geologic map of Kentucky: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper PP-1151H. Pp. H31–H44.

Soil survey staff. 2019. Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Soil survey of Bell and Harlan County, Kentucky. Web Soil Survey. <https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/>. Accessed 20 Oct 2019.

Strausbaugh, P.D. & E.L. Core. 1998. Flora of West Virginia. Seneca Press, Inc., Grantsville WV, U.S.A.

Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, May 2015 version. University of North Carolina Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, NC, U.S.A.

Wherry, E.T. 1929. A new circumneutral soil prickly-pear from the middle Atlantic states. J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 16:11–14.

Published

2020-07-15

How to Cite

Adanick, P. ., & Medley, M. E. . (2020). Opuntia humifusa sensu stricto (Cactaceae): New to Kentucky (U.S.A.) and confirmed in the Unglaciated Appalachian Plateaus. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 14(1), 141–146. https://doi.org/10.17348/jbrit.v14.i1.890