Lemon vines (Pereskia aculeata)
Description
Pereskia, as traditionally circumscribed, is a genus of 17 tropical species and varieties of cacti that do not look much like other types of cacti, having substantial leaves and thin stems. They originate from the region between Brazil and Mexico. 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. The genus is named after Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, a 16th-century French botanist. Species of Pereskia generally resemble other types of plants, such as roses. Pereskia species have large, bright green, privet-like leaves and long spiny stems. Not always succulent plants, they can be classified as shrubs, climbing plants or slightly succulent trees. However, close examination shows spines developing from areoles, and the distinctive floral cup of the cactus family. Unlike Pereskiopsis, Maihuenia, Quiabentia and Austrocylindropuntia which have persistent succulent leaves, Pereskia is the only cactus genus that has persistent non-succulent leaves. It is believed that the ancestor of all cacti resembled Pereskia. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that species traditionally assigned to Pereskia fall into two clades, so that the genus is paraphyletic (i.e. it does not comprise all the descendants of a common ancestor). In 2013, it was suggested that eight species be moved to the genus Leuenbergeria, with the other nine species remaining in Pereskia.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Caryophyllales
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Family: Cactaceae
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Genus: Pereskia
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