Pereskia bahiensis

Range and subspecies

The species occurs from Bahia to northern Minas Gerais. POWO places its habitats in the seasonally dry tropics and accepts two subspecies, Pereskia bahiensis subsp. bahiensis and P. bahiensis subsp. minensis. They are included in the taxonomic index. Rhodocactus bahiensis is a synonym at species level. [2-WWW]

Leaves, flowers and fruits

The 1986 description, prepared before subspecies minensis was separated, presents shrubs and small trees 1–6 m tall. Leaves usually reach 5–12 cm long and 2–7 cm wide. With age, an areole may increase its spine number, and successive leaves form on shortened shoots. [Leuenberger 1986, Pereskia bahiensis description]

Pink flowers are about 4–7 cm in diameter and open for one day. They are usually clustered in groups of 2–12. Fleshy fruits reach 3–6 cm long and 3–5 cm wide, and seeds about 3.8–5.5 mm long. The flower opens widely, clearly distinguishing it from the narrow, almost closed flower of Pereskia stenantha, despite great similarity between vegetative parts of the two species. [Leuenberger 1986, Pereskia bahiensis description]

Long-term areole activity

Leuenberger described leaves developing from old areoles on greatly shortened shoots. A brachyblast retains growth capacity despite little axis elongation. Foliage can thus appear on an earlier-formed part of a branch. The trait was later used to support the distinctness of the Rhodocactus group. [Leuenberger 2008] [Asai and Miyata 2016]

Flowers and plants used as fences

Pereskia bahiensis is closely compared with P. stenantha, whose more closed flower has a distinct nectar chamber. Leuenberger also documented P. bahiensis in living fences in Bahia. This observation confirms local plant use but does not itself establish growth rate or pruning dates in a Polish greenhouse. [Leuenberger 2008]

In the older monograph, Bahia sites were described at about 400–900 m in caatinga. Plants shed leaves periodically, and flowering was recorded from October to April. Living fences were established from long stem sections and maintained by pruning. This is field-documented vegetative propagation, without a comparative test of cutting length, substrate and rooting percentage. [Leuenberger 1986, Pereskia bahiensis description]