Pereskia grandifolia Haw.
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Authority
Leuenberger, Beat E. 1986. Pereskia (Cactaceae). Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 41: 1-140.
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Family
Cactaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
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Species Description - Shrub or small tree, 2-5(-10) m tall, with erect to arching main shoots; trunk to 20 cm in diam., bark grayish-brown, slightly rough; twigs 5-8 mm thick, after periderm formation yellowish-brown when dry, young twigs green or reddish when fresh and with conspicuous fine white spots (stomatal cavities) not visible in dried material. Areoles rounded, cushion-like, 3-7(-8) mm in diam. on twigs, to 12 mm in diam. on trunk, 2-4 mm high, with dense and short brown, grayish-brown or gray tomentum of uniseriate multicellular hairs 1-2 mm long, producing spines and 1-3(-4) brachyblast leaves, growth zone in the center or in the upper part of the areole. Leaves variable in size, elliptic or narrowly elliptic-oblong, narrowly ovate to obovate-lanceolate, (6-)9-23(-30) x (3-)4-6(-9) cm; petiole (3-)5-12 (-15) mm long and 1-2 mm broad (to 3-4 mm thick when fresh); blade fleshy, 0.4-0.7 mm thick, base attenuate, apex acute to acuminate, plane or recurved; venation pinnate, prominent below; lateral veins (6-)7-13(-l 6), ca. 10 in mediumsized leaves, diverging at angles of 40-60°, mostly straight but somewhat arching and reticulate towards the margin. Spines 0-8(-11) on twigs, fasciculate (when young) to spreading, 1-4 cm long and 0.5-1.0 mm thick, acicular to subulate, black, brownish-black or brown with darker tip, red or yellowish at base in new growth, increasing in number on older branches to 10-15 or more, 2.5-6 cm long, on main shoot and trunk to 25-90 per areole, 2-6.5 cm long and 0.8-1.5 mm thick, brownish-black to black, becoming gray with age. Inflorescence terminal, densely cymose-paniculate by proliferation from the receptacles; additional lateral inflorescences developing from the upper areoles of the main shoots and twigs, usually ca. 10-15-flowered, but sometimes to 30(-50) flowers on strong shoots; lateral peduncles and pedicels 3-9, the upper ones 1-3 cm long, leafless or with 1-2 leafy bracts; terminal flower without a distinct pedicel, the axis broadened into the receptacle. Flowers 3-5(-7) cm in diam., showy, rose-like, lasting 1-2 days; receptacle 5-11 mm in diam., turbinate, usually with conspicuous angles or furrows and raised podaria, green, with bracts and areoles in the upper half only; areoles woolly, with hairs ca. 1 mm long; lower bracts ca. 4-7, spreading to ascending, variable in shape and size, small or leaf-like, elliptic-ovate to narrowly obovate-lanceolate, 4-30 x 4-15 mm, green or purplish, shortly and broadly petiolate, blade plane or keeled below; apex acute to acuminate, flat or recurved; upper bracts 2-5, erect, appressed to the bud, ovate to obovate-lanceolate or broadly triangular, to ca. 5 x 5 mm, with broad base and acute apex; sepaloids 2-5, ovate to obovate-lanceolate, often asymmetric, 8-18 x (3-)5-8(-12) mm, greenish to pink or purplish, with broad, cuneate to attenuate base; petaloids 5-12, obovate, to spathulate, 10-32 x 5-13(-17) mm, accrescent during anthesis, pink, rose, pale pink, or purplish-pink; base cuneate, broad to narrow, paler; apex rounded with a point to deeply emarginate; stamens ca. 110-130, 5-10 mm long, clustering around the style below the level of the stigma lobes; filaments white; anthers 1.0-1.8 x 0.5-1.0 mm, pale to golden-yellow; pollen mostly 6-9(-12)-colpate, medium-sized, tectum densely and coarsely perforate; spinules ca. 1 µm; ovary distinctly inferior but with free conical ovary roof narrowing into the style; locule cup-shaped, ca. 3-4 mm in diam., locule floor concave, ovary roof with septal ridges; placentae parietal, in the upper part of the locule around the base of the septal ridges; style 8-12 mm long, white; stigma lobes 5-8 suberect, 1-2 mm long, white to pale pink. Infructescence a cymose-paniculate cluster, usually pendent, dense to lax. Fruits l-12(-30), pyriform or turbinate, usually with conspicuous angles formed by the podaria of the receptacular bracts, very variable in shape and size, 5-10 cm long and 3-7 cm in diam., green or reddish-green to yellowish at maturity; pedicel 0-20 mm long, areoles 4-5(-8), with grayish tomentum; bracts small to leafy, persistent or mostly deciduous at maturity; umbilicus constricted, narrow, filled by the upper bracts and the crumpled flower remnants, 4-9 mm in diam.; locule in the upper half of the fruit, cup-shaped to obtriangular; fruit wall 7-12 mm thick, ovary roof to 12 mm in diam. and ca. 57 mm thick. Seeds ca. 20-60, obovate-elliptic, (5.0-)6.0-6.7(-7.0) mm long, (3.6-) 4.5-5.0(-5.4) mm broad and 2.5-3.2 mm thick; smooth, black, glossy; hilum subbasal, creamy white, reniform, with low rim, micropylar end rounded to noselike. Seedlings (three days old) with hypocotyl 15-40 mm long, cotyledons ca. 10 x 8 mm, ovate, acute, accrescent on seedlings with developing primary shoot to 30-40 x 22 mm.