Origin and taxonomy of Opuntia ficus-indica.

METZING, DETLEV; KIESLING, R.

Coquimbo

Congreso; IX International Congress on Cactus Pear and Cochineal CAM crops for a hotter and drier world.; 2017

FAO - ICARDA

Opuntia ficus-indica is the cactus species ofgreatest agrononnic importance, due to its deliciousfruits, but aiso to its stems, which are usedas fodder for livestock or as a vegetable for humanconsumption (Alkamper, 1984; Kiesling, 1999a;Casas and Barbera, 2002). The use and cultivationof opuntias dates back to prehistoric times, longbefore the Spaniards arrived in the Americas. TheIndian chroniclers were the first to record theseplants and its fruits, which were carried to Spainand initially used as ornamental plants (Casas andBarbera, 2002). It is probable that opuntias werebrought back after the first or second visit ofColumbus to the Caribbean, although the first definitiverecord is from México in 1515 (in the chronicleof Fernández de Oviedo, reproduced by LópezPiñeiro ef ai., 1992). The long history of the use,cultivation and domestication of O. ficus-indica andrelated species resulted in taxonomical and nomenclaturalproblems, summarized in this chapter.