Pereskia grandifolia
Encyclopedia
Northeastern Brazil restingas
The Northeastern Brazil restingas are an ecoregion of northeastern Brazil. Restingas are coastal forests which form on sandy, acidic, and nutrient-poor soils, and are characterized by medium sized trees and shrubs adapted to the dry and nutrient-poor conditions found there.-Setting:The ecoregion...
. This plant is often used as a medicinal plant and an ornamental plant
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
. In addition, it has edible leaves.
Although it is a cactus by classification, it takes the form of a 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...
or small 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...
, 2-5 meters high, with a grayish-brown trunk up to 20 cm in diameter. The 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...
es are rounded cushion-shaped grayish or brownish tomentum
Tomentum
Tomentum may refer to the following:*In botany, a covering of closely matted or fine hairs on plant leaves. *A network of minute blood vessels in the brain.* Tomentum in zoology are a short, soft pubescence...
; on the twigs they are 3-7 mm diameter and up to 12 mm on the main trunk. The spines range from black to brown, the number at each areole gradually increasing with age; new twigs can have spineless areoles, while the trunk areoles may have up to 90 spines, each 2-6.5 cm long.
The leaves vary in size from 9-23 cm long, entire, with shapes ranging from elliptic to ovate and obovate-lanceolate.
The dense inflorescence
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...
develops at the ends of stems, usually with 10-15 flowers, but sometimes with 30 or more. The flowers are showy and rose-like, 3-5 cm in diameter.
Leuenberger recognizes varieties grandifolia and violacea. Var. grandifolia is distinguished by having green bract
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
s and a pink flower; it is native to eastern 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...
but widely cultivated in the tropical Americas.
Var. violacea has purplish-pink or purple bracts and flowers. It was discovered sometime before 1972, initially described as P. bahiensis, but is only distinguished from var. grandifolia by color. It is apparently native to Espirito Santo
Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo is one of the states of southeastern Brazil, often referred to by the abbreviation "ES". Its capital is Vitória and the largest city is Vila Velha. The name of the state means literally "holy spirit" after the Holy Ghost of Christianity...
and Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
, but planted by locals in neighboring states.
