devils rope pear
An upright or spreading fleshy plant (usually growing 1-2 m tall) with stems that consist of a series of cylindrical segments. These segments (up to 40 cm long and 3-5 cm thick) are covered in mall humps that give them a rope-like appearance and are also covered in groups of sharp spines (2-3 cm long).
Its showy purple or purplish-red coloured flowers (4-9 cm across) have large numbers of 'petals' and its fleshy fruit (25-70 mm long) turn yellow as they mature
This species has a scattered distribution throughout the eastern parts of Australia. It is most common in the inland and sub-coastal regions of southern Queensland and New South Wales. Also recorded from north-western Victoria, south-eastern South Australia and the Northern Territory.
This species is mostly found in semi-arid environments, but also occurs in drier sub-tropical and warmer temperate regions. It is a weed of roadsides, disturbed sites, pastures, open woodlands, rangelands and grasslands.
An upright (i.e. erect) or sprawling fleshy (i.e. succulent) plant. It usually grows 1-2 m tall, but occasionally reaches up to 3 m in height.
Devil’s Rope pear is a very thorny cactus which can cause injury to humans and to animals. Infestations can reduce the livestock carrying capacity of pastures and can become thick enough to impede access. It is also regarded as an environmental weed in Queensland, and was included among the top 200 invasive plants of south-eastern Queensland.
This cactus has the potential to become a widespread and abundant pest throughout inland Queensland, is common around mining settlements in the western areas of New South Wales, and is considered to pose a threat to semi-arid grasslands in Victoria.
Devil’s Rope pear is a very thorny cactus which can cause injury to humans and to animals. Infestations can reduce the livestock carrying capacity of pastures and can become thick enough to impede access. It is also regarded as an environmental weed in Queensland, and was included among the top 200 invasive plants of south-eastern Queensland.
This cactus has the potential to become a widespread and abundant pest throughout inland Queensland, is common around mining settlements in the western areas of New South Wales, and is considered to pose a threat to semi-arid grasslands in Victoria.
The showy purple or reddish-purple coloured flowers (up to 6 cm long and 3-9 cm across) are borne singly on a fleshy base towards the ends of the stem segments. They have large numbers of 'petals' (most of these are actually petal-like structures known as petaloids), each 15-35 mm long, and numerous yellow stamens. Flowering occurs mostly during late spring and summer.
Immature fruit are green in colour, but turn yellowish as they mature. These fruit (25-70 mm long and 20-40 mm wide) are fleshy (i.e. succulent), spineless, egg-shaped (i.e. obovoid) berries with deeply depressed tops. They are covered in small bumps (i.e. tubercules) and have 18-30 tiny raised structures (i.e. areoles). The seeds (2.5-4 mm long) are yellow to light brown in colour and sub-circular (i.e. sub-globose) or angular in shape.
This species reproduces by seed and vegetatively via stem fragments (i.e. stem segments may become dislodged and produce roots).
Stem fragments are spread by becoming attached to animals, footwear and vehicles. They may also be dispersed by flood waters and in dumped garden waste. The fruit are eaten by birds and other animals, and the seeds then spread in their droppings.
