Salmonopuntia salmiana

Name and natural range

Salmonopuntia salmiana (formerly Opuntia salmiana and Austrocylindropuntia salmiana) is an accepted species in POWO. Its natural range covers Bolivia, Paraguay, and northwestern and northeastern Argentina. Its synonymy also includes Opuntia albiflora, O. ipatiana and O. spegazzinii. [2-WWW]

Thin stems, leaves and spines

In the monograph by Walters et al., plants usually reach 0,3–0,5 m tall or more. The cylindrical segments grow to 25 cm long at about 1 cm in diameter and may be reddish. Small leaves, 1–2 mm long, fall off quickly. An areole may remain spineless or produce 3–5 bristle-like spines, up to 1,5 cm long, with small barbs. [Walters et al. 2011]

Segment shape changes with hydration. In the description of the Catalan population, well-hydrated stems had an approximately cylindrical cross-section, while dried stems wrinkled and flattened slightly. [Aymerich 2018]

Flowers, fruits and identification

Flowers were described as white or pale yellow, 2–3,5 cm in diameter. Fruits are red and elongated, about 1 cm wide. In the cultivated material described by Walters et al., they remained seedless, and the upper areoles of the pericarpel produced small segments while the fruit was still ripening. [Walters et al. 2011]

Verloove and Guiggi reported whitish-pink flowers, soft bristle-like spines and nearly cylindrical terminal segments in plants from Tarragona. This combination of characters helps distinguish S. salmiana from the similar Opuntia aurantiaca, whose typical plants have more flattened segments and intensely yellow flowers. [Verloove and Guiggi 2020]

Propagules and dispersal

In the Mediterranean population studied, the most important recruitment pathway was through spiny propagules arising from the upper fruit areoles. They attached to fur, clothing and footwear. Aymerich documented them on a shoe. The fruit therefore participates in clonal recruitment through the activity of its retained areoles. [Aymerich 2018]

Habitat and secondary sites

The review by Verloove and Guiggi associates the species with alkaline substrates, rocky sites and the edges of xerophilous forests in South America. The authors also documented a second population near Montbrió del Camp, beside a dry streambed and a degraded pine stand. The site lay at 134 m above sea level, and the observation dated from September 2018. [Verloove and Guiggi 2020]

In the first described Catalan population, plants occupied about 1 ha of dry meadow, scrub and open pine woodland. Numbers were estimated at several hundred individuals, without a precise census. Density was greatest in open areas of carbonate substrate, particularly among accumulations of stones. These are data on naturalisation in a Mediterranean climate. [Aymerich 2018]

Genetic variation

In the study by Realini et al., three samples of S. salmiana (Opuntia salmiana in the publication) came from Argentina and Bolivia. ISSR markers showed variation within this group. The result documents variation among the specimens studied from different parts of the natural range. [Realini et al. 2015]