Flag for Taxon: Texas Pricklypear (Opuntia lindheimeri)
| Flagger | Content Author | Content | Reason | Flag Created | Resolved by | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| josepgesti | Texas Pricklypear (Opuntia lindheimeri) |
Synonym of Opuntia engelmannii var. lindheimeri |
Apr. 17, 2023 18:30:42 +0000 | josepgesti |
keep as independent taxa |
Comments
iNaturalist does not follow POWO in regards to Opuntia taxonomy.
So what criteria does iNat follow for Opuntia?
And in relation to this flag, in your opinion is it right to keep Opuntia lindheimeri as an independent species?
Thank you so much!
For at least the Opuntia species of the USA, iNaturalist follows opuntiads.com as the taxonomic authority. I would say yes, O. engelmannii and O. lindheimeri should be viewed as two separate species. The two taxa are almost entirely allopatric in their native ranges, they both favor different environmental conditions/habitat, and are readily distinguished from each other.
Thank you @joshua_tx !
Hi, I am just now seeing this for the first time, so I apologize for the delay in responding. I would not make any taxon swaps combining species in Opuntia at this time; at least not without a discussion first. You are correct that O. lindheimeri has already undergone quite a bit of chaos here at iNaturalist (I think it may have even been already listed as a variety of O. engelmannii for a time). POWO is not a good resource for Opuntia (even though outstanding for many groups), and even has (or at least had) a few instances where the same taxon is listed more than once in different ways, and "recognized" as valid in each way. In this particular case, O. lindheimeri and O. engelmannii should definitely not be lumped for reasons already given, and because where the two do contact one-another in nature, they remain separate and easily distinguishable, even if the plants are growing together. There is an area in the Trans-Pecos roughly along the Pecos River and following up the Rio Grande into the Big Bend (Boquillas, etc.), and also following along the west base of the Sierra del Carmen south from the Big Bend, where such overlap occurs. There is also an isolated population of O. engelmannii roughly below the east edge of the Caprock (i.e. Sweetwater, TX) where this also occurs. Generally when together, O. lindheimeri is favoring more mesic sites with deeper soils than O. engelmannii, which is most often on rocky slopes, but occasionally the plants really are literally touching.
There is another interesting complication (among many). When these larger shrubby Opuntia types are "lumped" together (not just engelmannii and lindheimeri), it is usually the name O. engelmannii that is used as the proverbial "garbage can" or lumping ground for them (at least in the United States). However, one of the species included frequently in this confusion is Opuntia orbiculata. Since the name "orbiculata" was not based originally on plants from the U.S., it has tended to be overlooked or ignored for U.S. populations by U.S. authors (until relatively recently). However, O. orbiculata is a considerably older name than O. engelmannii, and all of those O. engelmannii lumpings would need to be shifted to O. orbiculata to be nomenclaturally correct [with the name engelmannii falling as a synonym or variant of O. orbiculata.] Luckily however, most of the names that are so lumped represent distinct biological species, and should not be lumped together at all. Also, O. orbiculata is generally a far more abundant species than O. engelmannii, and is also more widely distributed. Often, what people think of as "O. engelmannii" is really O. orbiculata (or O. lindheimeri, or another). So, the concept of just what O. engelmannii is, has often been learned incorrectly.
Thank you very much for your detailed explanation. So of course I'm not going to change anything in iNaturalist's Opuntia taxonomy.
So, based on your comments. Could we resolve this flag now?
yes of course. I change the flag to resolved
Thanks a lot
According to POWO, Opuntia lindheimeri is a synonym of Opuntia engelmannii var. lindheimeri
I can make the swap myself, but first I would like to know if you agree with it, since this taxon has undergone several exchanges before.
@davidferguson @joshua_tx @aidancampos @tiwane