Pereskia is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of about 25 tropical species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 and varieties

Variety (biology)

In botanical nomenclature, variety is a taxonomic rank below that of species: as such, it gets a three-part infraspecific name....

 of cacti

Cactus

A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...

 that do not look much like other types of cacti, having substantial leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 and thin stems

Plant stem

A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...

. They originate from the region between Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 and Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. The genus is named after Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc

Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc

Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc was a French astronomer, antiquary and savant who maintained a wide correspondence with scientists and was a successful organizer of scientific inquiry...

, a 16th century French botanist, which also has been given its own subfamily Pereskioideae. Members of this genus are usually referred to as lemon vines, rose cacti or leaf cacti, though the latter also refers to the genus Epiphyllum

Epiphyllum

Epiphyllum is a genus of 19 species of epiphytic plants in the cactus family , native to Central America. Common names for these species include orchid cacti and leaf cacti, though the latter also refers to the genus Pereskia....

.

Species of Pereskia generally resemble other types of plants, such as rose

Rose

A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...

s. Pereskia species have large, bright green, privet

Privet

Privet was originally the name for the European semi-evergreen shrub Ligustrum vulgare, and later also for the more reliably evergreen Ligustrum ovalifolium , used extensively for privacy hedging. It is often suggested that the name privet is related to private, but the OED states that there is no...

-like leaves and long spiny

Thorns, spines, and prickles

In botanical morphology, thorns, spines, and prickles are hard structures with sharp, or at least pointed, ends. In spite of this common feature, they differ in their growth and development on the plant; they are modified versions of different plant organs, stems, stipules, leaf veins, or hairs...

 stems. Not always succulent plants, they can be classified as shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

s, climbing plants

Vine

A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...

 or slightly succulent tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

s. However, close examination shows spines developing from areole

Areole

Areoles are an important diagnostic feature of cacti, and identify them as a family distinct from other succulent plants. The areoles on cacti are clearly visible; they generally appear as small light- to dark-colored bumps, out of which grow clusters of spines...

s, and the distinctive floral cup of the cactus family. Unlike Pereskiopsis

Pereskiopsis

Pereskiopsis is a genus of cacti .Peireskiopsis Vaupel is an orthographic variant.-Description:...

, Maihuenia

Maihuenia

Maihuenia is a genus of cactus and the sole genus of the subfamily Maihuenioideae, which is the smallest subfamily of the Cactaceae. The genus comprises 2 cushion-forming, mucilaginous species. They are found at high elevation habitats of Andean Argentina and Chile....

, Quiabentia

Quiabentia

Quiabentia is a genus of cacti, closely related to Pereskiopsis....

 and Austrocylindropuntia

Austrocylindropuntia

Austrocylindropuntia is a genus of cacti . There are 11 recognized species, which were once included in the genus Opuntia. Some are native to South America.- External links :*...

 which have persistent succulent leaves, Pereskia is the only cactus genus that has persistent non-succulent leaves. It is believed that this is the origin of other cacti.

Shrub species usually grow to 1 m (3.3 ft) in height, but climbing or arborescent species can reach 5 to 20 m (16.4 to 65.6 ft). Flowers may appear alone or in clusters

Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

. They generally resemble rose

Rose

A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...

s and reach a diameter of 1 to 5 cm (0.393700787401575 to 2 in). Colors of the flower depend on each species and vary from white, yellow to magenta or red. Fruits are ordinarily spherical, of 2 to 5 cm (0.78740157480315 to 2 in) diameter, and are wine red

Burgundy (color)

Burgundy is a shade of purplish red associated with the Burgundy wine of the same name, which in turn is named after the Burgundy region of France. The color burgundy is similar to other shades of dark red such as maroon...

 when ripe.

Most of the species are found in dry forests

Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests

The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome, also known as tropical dry forest, is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred centimeters of rain per year, they have long dry seasons...

 or thorny scrub

Deserts and xeric shrublands

Deserts and xeric shrublands is a biome characterized by, relating to, or requiring only a small amount of moisture.-Definition and occurrence:...

, in tropical climates

Tropics

The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately  N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at  S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...

 with a dry season

Dry season

The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...

 of two to five months. They are found from southern Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 to Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 and Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, and throughout the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

, as well as the eastern part of Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 south to northern Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

 and Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. Several types are native to the Andes

Andes

The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

 in Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

 and Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, though not on the Pacific side. They have been found in the U.S. state of Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, but are probably introductions

Introduced species

An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...

 rather than natives.

Species

• Pereskia aculeata
  Pereskia aculeata
  Pereskia aculeata is a scrambling shrub in the family Cactaceae. Common names include Barbados gooseberry and leaf cactus. It is native to tropical America.-Description:...
  
   - Barbados gooseberry
  • Pereskia aculeata var. rotundifolia
• Pereskia aureiflora
  Pereskia aureiflora
  Pereskia aureiflora is a species of cactus that is endemic to Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and hot deserts. It is threatened by habitat loss....
  
  
• Pereskia bahiensis
  Pereskia bahiensis
  Pereskia bahiensis is a species of cactus that is endemic to Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss....
  
  
• Pereskia bleo
  Pereskia bleo
  Pereskia bleo is a leafy cactus, native to the shady, moist forests of Central America, that grows to a woody, prickly shrub about 2 m tall with large, orange flowers resembling rose blossoms.- Synonyms :...
  
  
• Pereskia colombiana
• Pereskia corrugata
• Pereskia cubensis
• Pereskia diaz-romeroana
• Pereskia godseffiana
• Pereskia grandifolia
  Pereskia grandifolia
  Pereskia grandifolia is a tree native to the Northeastern Brazil restingas. This plant is often used as a medicinal plant and an ornamental plant...
  
  
  • Pereskia grandifolia var. violacea
• Pereskia guamacho
• Pereskia horrida
• Pereskia humboldtii
  • Pereskia humboldtii var. rauhii (syn. P. horrida)
• Pereskia lychnidiflora
• Pereskia marcanoi
• Pereskia nemorosa
• Pereskia philippi
• Pereskia portulacifolia
• Pereskia quisqueyana
  Pereskia quisqueyana
  Pereskia quisqueyana, commonly known as the Bayahibe Rose, is a species of cactus that is endemic to the Dominican Republic. Its natural habitats include subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is critically endangered due to habitat loss....
  
  
• Pereskia sacharosa
• Pereskia stenantha
  Pereskia stenantha
  Pereskia stenantha is a species of cactus that is endemic to Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.-External Links:* on Tropicos...
  
  
• Pereskia subulata
• Pereskia vargasii
  • Pereskia vaugasii var. longispina
• Pereskia weberiana
• Pereskia zehntneri
• Pereskia ziniiflora
• Pereskia zinniaefolia

Most likely Charles Plumier

Charles Plumier

Charles Plumier was a French botanist, after whom the Frangipani genus Plumeria is named. Plumier is considered one of the most important of the botanical explorers of his time...

 collected the first Pereskia specimens from the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 between 1689 and 1695, but none of these have survived. Although Plumier described Pereskia in 1703, Linnaeus placed Plumier's two species in his Cactus, as C. pereskia and C. portacifolius. Philip Miller

Philip Miller

Philip Miller FRS was a Scottish botanist.Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1722 until he was pressured to retire shortly before his death...

 brought the original name back in 1754, and so by the rules of botanical nomenclature

Botanical nomenclature

Botanical nomenclature is the formal, scientific naming of plants. It is related to, but distinct from taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is concerned with grouping and classifying plants; botanical nomenclature then provides names for the results of this process. The starting point for modern botanical...

, he is credited as the author.

The genus Rhodocactus (A.Berger) F.M.Knuth has been brought into synonymy with this genus, as well as different orthographic variants: Peirescia Zucc. (orth. var.), Peireskia Steud. (orth. var.) and Perescia Lem. (orth. var.).

Uses

The genus is not of great economic importance, the most common usage being as hedge

Hedge

Hedge may refer to:* Hedge or hedgerow, line of closely spaced shrubs planted to act as a barrier* Hedge , investment made to limit loss* Hedge , intentionally non-committal or ambiguous sentence fragments-See also:...

s; they are easily transplanted and quickly grow into an impenetrable thicket

Thicket

A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large amounts of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in the shelter of the maternal plants.In some conditions the...

, as well as flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

ing prolifically. Being more tolerant of moisture than more succulent cacti

Cactus

A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...

, they can be used as rootstock

Rootstock

A rootstock is a plant, and sometimes just the stump, which already has an established, healthy root system, used for grafting a cutting or budding from another plant. The tree part being grafted onto the rootstock is usually called the scion...

 for grafting

Grafting

Grafting is a horticultural technique whereby tissues from one plant are inserted into those of another so that the two sets of vascular tissues may join together. This vascular joining is called inosculation...

 of Zygocactus to create miniature trees.

Pereskias have been naturalised

Introduced species

An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...

 in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 and West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

.

These species contain tyramine

Tyramine

Tyramine is a naturally occurring monoamine compound and trace amine derived from the amino acid tyrosine. Tyramine acts as a catecholamine releasing agent...

, and phenethylamine

Phenethylamine

Phenylethylamine or phenethylamine is a natural monoamine alkaloid, trace amine, and also the name of a class of chemicals with many members well known for psychoactive drug and stimulant effects. Studies suggest that phenylethylamine functions as a neuromodulator or neurotransmitter in the...

.