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Opuntia mesacantha

species of plant

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 3, 2026
Entity authorityQ109568227 ↗
Source-derived summary

Opuntia mesacantha, the longspine eastern prickly-pear or southeastern prickly-pear cactus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cactaceae. It is native to New Jersey and the southeastern United States, and it has been introduced to Spain. It is found in a variety of sandy habitats, and on granite outcrops. Its fruit are edible.

Subtaxa

The following subspecies are accepted:

Opuntia mesacantha subsp. lata (Small) Majure – subtropical

Opuntia mesacantha subsp.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Opuntia mesacantha” as species of plant. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current 72-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Opuntia, mesacantha and species can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of plant. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q109568227. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Opuntia mesacantha”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Opuntia mesacantha primary sources, Opuntia mesacantha archive and Opuntia research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Opuntia mesacantha”?
  2. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
  3. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Opuntia mesacantha” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.