Taxon: Pereskia aculeata Mill.

Summary

Genus:

Pereskia

Family:

Cactaceae

Subfamily:

Pereskioideae

Nomen number:

27356

Place of publication:

Gard. dict. ed. 8: Pereskia. 1768

Verified:

03/01/2004 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

2 (0 active, 0 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

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

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Cactus pereskia L.

Images (1 total. Click on image for more.)

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family
Angely, J. A. 1965. Flora analitica do Parana.
Angely, J. A. 1970-. Flora analítica e fitográfica do Estado de São Paulo.
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Backer, C. A. & R. C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Jr. 1963-1968. Flora of Java.
Benson, L. 1982. The cacti of the United States and Canada 911.
Bravo-Hollis, H. & H. Sánchez-Mejorada. 1978. Las Cactáceas de México, vol. 1 - 1978, vols. 2,3 - 1991 145-147.
Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
Funk, V. et al. 2007. Checklist of the plants of the Guiana Shield (Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolivar, Delta Amacuro; Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana). Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 55:1-584.
George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
Gooding, E. G. et al. 1965. Flora of Barbados.
Henderson, L. 2001. Alien weeds and invasive plants: a complete guide to declared weeds and invaders in South Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute, Handbook 12
Henderson, M. et al. 1987. Declared weeds and alien invader plants in South Africa. Botanical Research Institute, bulletin 413
Hokche, O. et al. 2008. Nuevo catálogo de la flora vascular de Venezuela.
Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
Hunt, D. 1992. CITES Cactaceae checklist
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
IPGRI. New World Fruits Database (on-line resource).
Jørgensen, P. M. & S. León-Yánez, eds. 1999. Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 75
Kartesz, J. T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland.
Leuenberger, B. E. 1986. Pereskia (Cactaceae). Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 41:58.
Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Madeira, N. R. et al. 2018. Pereskia aculeata. Ora-pro-nobis. In: Coradin, L. et al., Espécies nativas da flora brasileira de valor econômico atual ou potencial: plantas para o futuro: região Nordeste 225-236. Note: currently being cultivated in Brazil as a vegetable or for its fruits; it could be used as forage and ornamental
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Segura, S. et al. 2018. The edible fruit species in Mexico. Genet. Resources Crop Evol. 65:1767-1793. DOI: 10.1007/s10722-018-0652-3. Note: introduced
St. John, H. 1973. List and summary of the flowering plants in the Hawaiian islands
Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark. 1946-1976. Flora of Guatemala.
Steyermark, J. A. & O. Huber. 1978. Flora del Avila.
Taylor, N. & D. Zappi. 2004. Cacti of eastern Brazil 166.
Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds
Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943-1980. Flora of Panama.
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).

Common names

Language	Name	seq	Citation
English	Barbados-gooseberry	1	Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
English	blade-apple cactus	1	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
English	leaf cactus	1	Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
English	leafy cactus	1	Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
English	lemonvine	1	Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
English	pereskia	1	Henderson, L. 2001. Alien weeds and invasive plants: a complete guide to declared weeds and invaders in South Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute, Handbook 12
English	rose cactus	1	Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family
English	Surinam-gooseberry	1	Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family
French	groseillier des Barbades	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
German	Barbadosstachelbeere	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Portuguese	azedinha	2	Taylor, N. & D. Zappi. 2004. Cacti of eastern Brazil 166.
Portuguese	cipó-santo	2	Taylor, N. & D. Zappi. 2004. Cacti of eastern Brazil 166.
Portuguese	espinho-de-Santo-Antônio	2	Taylor, N. & D. Zappi. 2004. Cacti of eastern Brazil 166.
Portuguese	espinho-preto	2	Taylor, N. & D. Zappi. 2004. Cacti of eastern Brazil 166.
Portuguese	lobolôbô	2	Taylor, N. & D. Zappi. 2004. Cacti of eastern Brazil 166.
Portuguese	ora-pro-nobis	2	Taylor, N. & D. Zappi. 2004. Cacti of eastern Brazil 166.
Portuguese	surucucú	2	Taylor, N. & D. Zappi. 2004. Cacti of eastern Brazil 166.
Spanish	bugambilia blanca	2	Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family
Spanish	camelia blanca	2	Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family
Spanish	grosellero	2	Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family
Spanish	jasmín de uvas	2	Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family
Spanish	ramo de novia	2	Anderson, E. F. 2001. The cactus family
Swedish	trädkaktus	2	Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil			Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Antigua and Barbuda			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Barbados			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Dominica			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Guadeloupe			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Haiti			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			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Montserrat			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	St. Vincent and Grenadines			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad		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	Central America	Panama			Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943-1980. Flora of Panama.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	French Guiana			Funk, V. et al. 2007. Checklist of the plants of the Guiana Shield (Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolivar, Delta Amacuro; Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana). Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 55:1-584.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Guyana			Funk, V. et al. 2007. Checklist of the plants of the Guiana Shield (Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolivar, Delta Amacuro; Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana). Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 55:1-584.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Suriname			Funk, V. et al. 2007. Checklist of the plants of the Guiana Shield (Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolivar, Delta Amacuro; Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana). Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 55:1-584.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela			Hokche, O. et al. 2008. Nuevo catálogo de la flora vascular de Venezuela.
1	Native	Southern America	Southern South America	Argentina	Corrientes		Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
1	Native	Southern America	Southern South America	Argentina	Entre Ríos		Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
1	Native	Southern America	Southern South America	Argentina	Misiones		Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
1	Native	Southern America	Southern South America	Paraguay			Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Colombia
2	Cultivated					also cult.
4	Naturalized	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa			Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Fujian Sheng	s.	Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
4	Naturalized	Australasia	Australia	Australia	Queensland		George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
4	Naturalized	Northern America		Mexico			Bravo-Hollis, H. & H. Sánchez-Mejorada. 1978. Las Cactáceas de México, vol. 1 - 1978, vols. 2,3 - 1991 145-147.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	South-Central U.S.A.	United States	Texas	s.	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Florida		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Cuba			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Dominican Republic			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Western South America	Ecuador	Manabí		Jørgensen, P. M. & S. León-Yánez, eds. 1999. Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 75

Native
Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Montserrat, Martinique, Trinidad and Tobago [Trinidad], United States [Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, U.S.], St. Vincent and Grenadines
CENTRAL AMERICA: Panama
NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
BRAZIL: Brazil
WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Colombia
SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina [Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Misiones], Paraguay

Cultivated (also cult.)
Naturalized
Africa

SOUTHERN AFRICA: South Africa

Asia-Temperate

CHINA: China [Fujian Sheng (s.)]

Australasia

AUSTRALIA: Australia [Queensland]

Northern America

SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Florida]
SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Texas (s.)]
REGION: Mexico

Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Cuba, Dominican Republic
WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Ecuador [Manabí]

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
Bravo-Hollis, H. & H. Sánchez-Mejorada. 1978. Las Cactáceas de México, vol. 1 - 1978, vols. 2,3 - 1991 145-147.
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
Funk, V. et al. 2007. Checklist of the plants of the Guiana Shield (Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolivar, Delta Amacuro; Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana). Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 55:1-584.
George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
Hokche, O. et al. 2008. Nuevo catálogo de la flora vascular de Venezuela.
Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
Jørgensen, P. M. & S. León-Yánez, eds. 1999. Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 75
Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943-1980. Flora of Panama.
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Animal food	forage	potential	Madeira, N. R. et al. 2018. Pereskia aculeata. Ora-pro-nobis. In: Coradin, L. et al., Espécies nativas da flora brasileira de valor econômico atual ou potencial: plantas para o futuro: região Nordeste 225-236. Note: currently being cultivated in Brazil as a vegetable or for its fruits; it could be used as forage and ornamental
Environmental	ornamental		Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Environmental	ornamental		Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage
Environmental	ornamental		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Environmental	ornamental		Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds
Environmental	ornamental	for hedges	Madeira, N. R. et al. 2018. Pereskia aculeata. Ora-pro-nobis. In: Coradin, L. et al., Espécies nativas da flora brasileira de valor econômico atual ou potencial: plantas para o futuro: região Nordeste 225-236. Note: currently being cultivated in Brazil as a vegetable or for its fruits; it could be used as forage and ornamental
Human food	fruit		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Human food	vegetable		Madeira, N. R. et al. 2018. Pereskia aculeata. Ora-pro-nobis. In: Coradin, L. et al., Espécies nativas da flora brasileira de valor econômico atual ou potencial: plantas para o futuro: região Nordeste 225-236. Note: currently being cultivated in Brazil as a vegetable or for its fruits; it could be used as forage and ornamental
Human food	vegetable	cladodes eaten as potherb	Taylor, N. & D. Zappi. 2004. Cacti of eastern Brazil 166.
Weed			Henderson, M. et al. 1987. Declared weeds and alien invader plants in South Africa. Botanical Research Institute, bulletin 413
Weed			Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds
Weed			Henderson, L. 2001. Alien weeds and invasive plants: a complete guide to declared weeds and invaders in South Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute, Handbook 12

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=27356. Accessed 15 April 2026.