Taxon: Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw. var. dillenii (Ker Gawl.) L. D. Benson

Summary

Genus:

Opuntia

Family:

Cactaceae

Subfamily:

Opuntioideae

Tribe:

Opuntieae

Nomen number:

310427

Place of publication:

Cact. Succ. J. (Los Angeles) 41:126. 1969

Verified:

04/17/2012 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

0 (0 active, 0 available) in National Plant Germplasm System.

Other conspecific taxa

Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw. (0 active accession[s])
Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw. var. stricta (0 active accession[s])

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Basionym
Cactus dillenii Ker Gawl.

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Opuntia dillenii (Ker Gawl.) Haw.

No images

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. Flora of the West Indies (on-line resource). Note: = Opuntia dillenii (Ker Gawl.) Haw.
Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. et al. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78:1-581. Note: = Opuntia dillenii (Ker Gawl.) Haw.
Benson, L. 1982. The cacti of the United States and Canada
Bravo-Hollis, H. & H. Sánchez-Mejorada. 1978. Las Cactáceas de México, vol. 1 - 1978, vols. 2,3 - 1991 280.
Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
Gómez-López, I. et al. 2021. Characterization, stability, and bioaccessibility of betalain and phenolic compounds from Opuntia stricta var. Dillenii fruits and products of their industrialization. Foods 10:1593. DOI: 10.3390/foods10071593.
Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
Holm, L. et al. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds Note: = Opuntia dillenii (Ker Gawl.) Haw.
Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles. Note: = Opuntia dillenii (Ker Gawl.) Haw.
Matthew, K. M. 1983. The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic.
Shirazinia, R. et al. 2019. Opuntia dillenii: A forgotten plant with promising pharmacological properties. J. Pharmacopuncture 22:16-27. DOI: 10.3831/KPI.2019.22.002. Note: = Opuntia dillenii
Taylor, N. & D. Zappi. 2004. Cacti of eastern Brazil Note: = Opuntia dillenii (Ker Gawl.) Haw.
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:688. DOI: 10.1016/j.rmb.2016.06.017. Note: = Opuntia dillenii (Ker Gawl.) Haw.
Weakley, A. S. 2011. Flora of the southern and middle Atlantic states.

Common names

Language	Name	note	seq	Citation
English	dildo	as Opuntia dillenii	1	Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family 520.
English	Eltham Indian-fig	as Opuntia dillenii	1	Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family 520.
English	pipestem prickly-pear	as Opuntia dillenii	1	Dyer, R. A. et al., eds. 1963-. Flora of southern Africa. Note: as Opuntia dillenii
English	spiny pest-pear		1	George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
English	spiny prickly-pear		1	Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
English	sweet prickly-pear	as Opuntia dillenii	1	Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family 520.
Afrikaans	geeldoringturksvy	as Opuntia dillenii	2	Dyer, R. A. et al., eds. 1963-. Flora of southern Africa. Note: as Opuntia dillenii
Afrikaans	pypsteelturksvy	as Opuntia dillenii	2	Dyer, R. A. et al., eds. 1963-. Flora of southern Africa. Note: as Opuntia dillenii
Portuguese	palma-de-espinho	as Opuntia dillenii	2	Taylor, N. & D. Zappi. 2004. Cacti of eastern Brazil Note: = Opuntia dillenii
Portuguese	palmatória	as Opuntia dillenii	2	Taylor, N. & D. Zappi. 2004. Cacti of eastern Brazil Note: = Opuntia dillenii
Portuguese (Brazil)	opúntia	as Opuntia dillenii	2	Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
Transcribed Chinese	xian ren zhang	as Opuntia dillenii	2	Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition). Note: as Opuntia dillenii

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	San Luis Potosí		Hunt, D. et al., eds. 2006. The new cactus lexicon
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Tamaulipas		Hunt, D. et al., eds. 2006. The new cactus lexicon
1	Native	Northern America	South-Central U.S.A.	United States	Texas		Benson, L. 1982. The cacti of the United States and Canada
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Florida	http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/main.asp?plantID=3595	Benson, L. 1982. The cacti of the United States and Canada
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Georgia		Weakley, A. S. 2011. Flora of the southern and middle Atlantic states.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	South Carolina		Benson, L. 1982. The cacti of the United States and Canada
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Campeche		Hunt, D. et al., eds. 2006. The new cactus lexicon
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Querétaro		Hunt, D. et al., eds. 2006. The new cactus lexicon
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Quintana Roo		Hunt, D. et al., eds. 2006. The new cactus lexicon
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Tabasco		Hunt, D. et al., eds. 2006. The new cactus lexicon
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave		Hunt, D. et al., eds. 2006. The new cactus lexicon
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Yucatán		Hunt, D. et al., eds. 2006. The new cactus lexicon
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Anguilla			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Antigua and Barbuda			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Bahamas			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Barbados			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Bermuda			George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Cayman Islands			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Cuba			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Dominica			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Dominican Republic			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Grenada			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Guadeloupe			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Jamaica			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Martinique			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Montserrat			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Netherlands Antilles			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	St. Kitts and Nevis			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	St. Lucia			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Puerto Rico		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Virgin Islands, U.S.		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Virgin Islands (British)			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Ecuador			Jørgensen, P. M. & S. León-Yánez, eds. 1999. Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 75
2	Cultivated					also cult.
4	Naturalized	Africa	Macaronesia	Spain	Canarias		Hansen, A. & P. Sunding. 1993. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 4. Sommerfeltia vol. 17.
4	Naturalized	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Ethiopia			Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
4	Naturalized	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa			Dyer, R. A. et al., eds. 1963-. Flora of southern Africa.
4	Naturalized	Africa	Western Indian Ocean	Madagascar			The Missouri Botanical Garden with others. A Catalogue of the vascular plants of Madagascar (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Arabian Peninsula	Saudi Arabia			Miller, A. G. & T. A. Cope. 1996-. Flora of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra.
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Arabian Peninsula	Yemen			Miller, A. G. & T. A. Cope. 1996-. Flora of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra.
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China			Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
4	Naturalized	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India			Böhm, H. 2008. "Opuntia dillenii" an interesting and promising Cactaceae taxon. J. Profess. Assoc. Cactus Developm. 10:148-170.
4	Naturalized	Australasia	Australia	Australia			George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southwestern Europe	Portugal			Castroviejo, S. et al., eds. 1989-. Flora iberica: plantas vasculares de la Peninsula Iberica e Islas Baleares.
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southwestern Europe	Spain			Castroviejo, S. et al., eds. 1989-. Flora iberica: plantas vasculares de la Peninsula Iberica e Islas Baleares.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil			Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).

Native
Northern America

SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Florida (http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/main.asp?plantID=3595), Georgia, South Carolina]
SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Texas]
NORTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas]
SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Campeche, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Yucatán]

Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Anguilla, Netherlands Antilles, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bermuda, Barbados, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Montserrat, Martinique, United States [Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, U.S.], Virgin Islands (British)
WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Ecuador

Cultivated (also cult.)
Naturalized
Africa

MACARONESIA: Spain [Canarias]
NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Ethiopia
SOUTHERN AFRICA: South Africa
WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Madagascar

Asia-Temperate

ARABIAN PENINSULA: Saudi Arabia, Yemen
CHINA: China

Asia-Tropical

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India

Australasia

AUSTRALIA: Australia

Europe

SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, Portugal

Southern America

BRAZIL: Brazil

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
Benson, L. 1982. The cacti of the United States and Canada
Böhm, H. 2008. "Opuntia dillenii" an interesting and promising Cactaceae taxon. J. Profess. Assoc. Cactus Developm. 10:148-170.
Castroviejo, S. et al., eds. 1989-. Flora iberica: plantas vasculares de la Peninsula Iberica e Islas Baleares.
Dyer, R. A. et al., eds. 1963-. Flora of southern Africa.
Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
Hansen, A. & P. Sunding. 1993. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 4. Sommerfeltia vol. 17.
Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
Hunt, D. et al., eds. 2006. The new cactus lexicon
Jørgensen, P. M. & S. León-Yánez, eds. 1999. Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 75
Miller, A. G. & T. A. Cope. 1996-. Flora of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra.
The Missouri Botanical Garden with others. A Catalogue of the vascular plants of Madagascar (on-line resource).
Weakley, A. S. 2011. Flora of the southern and middle Atlantic states.
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Human food	fruit	potential	Böhm, H. 2008. "Opuntia dillenii" an interesting and promising Cactaceae taxon. J. Profess. Assoc. Cactus Developm. 10:148-170. Note: as Opuntia dillenii
Human food	fruit	potential	Gómez-López, I. et al. 2021. Characterization, stability, and bioaccessibility of betalain and phenolic compounds from Opuntia stricta var. Dillenii fruits and products of their industrialization. Foods 10:1593. DOI: 10.3390/foods10071593.
Materials	chemicals	potential, as source of betalains for pharmaceutical industry	Shirazinia, R. et al. 2019. Opuntia dillenii: A forgotten plant with promising pharmacological properties. J. Pharmacopuncture 22:16-27. DOI: 10.3831/KPI.2019.22.002. Note: = Opuntia dillenii
Materials	chemicals	potential, fruit peels as source of betalains for pharmaceutical industry	Gómez-López, I. et al. 2021. Characterization, stability, and bioaccessibility of betalain and phenolic compounds from Opuntia stricta var. Dillenii fruits and products of their industrialization. Foods 10:1593. DOI: 10.3390/foods10071593.
Materials	tannin/dyestuff		Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family 495. Note: as Opuntia dillenii
Medicines	folklore	as Opuntia dillenii	Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family 495. Note: as Opuntia dillenii
Weed			Böhm, H. 2008. "Opuntia dillenii" an interesting and promising Cactaceae taxon. J. Profess. Assoc. Cactus Developm. 10:148-170. Note: as Opuntia dillenii

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=310427. Accessed 12 May 2026.