PlantFiles: Barbados Gooseberry
Pereskia aculeata

Believed to be the ancestral plant of all other cacti.

I've heard this plant called both Mexican Lemon Cactus and Barbados Shrub. But whatever it is called it's a beautiful plant; easy to grow and very easy to propagate. My mother keeps hers cut back to more of a bush while I tend to let mine grow as it will. None of our plants, nor the parent plant as far as I know, has ever bloomed.

Mine was severely broken/damaged by hurricane rita and never seemed to do well after that. So I recently cut the remaining stems up and replanted. Its now 12+ young healthy plants. This plant seems to thrive in many diverse conditions... with my mother's 'over' care, my basic care and even my daughter's total neglect. The original plant, that all of ours came from, was brought out of Mexico in the early 60's and lived for many years in a nursery in Houston.

Another synonym of this plant is Cactus pereskia.

More common names are "Tsunya, Bugambilia Blanca, Camelia Blanca, Grosellero, Jasmín de Uvas, Leafy Cactus, Lemon Vine, Ramo de Novia, Rose Cactus & Surinam Gooseberry.

Pereskia aculeata grows well from seed collected from ripe fruits. It can be kept in shrub form, but left to it's own devices it will vine out. Having escaped from cultivation here in Bermuda it scrambles unnoticed through hedgerows until the masses of orange fruits appear in late winter. The fruit has a mild pleasant flavour and is great in jams, preserves and desserts.the spines are soft and can simply be wiped off, although they generally fall off the fruit when fully ripe.

Being a tropical cactus, it has a difficult time here in the desert, although mine is still alive after five years. It doesn't like the extreme heat or the cold. It can still rot if watered too much. I had to give it shade and bring it indoors when it gets above 105F or below 35F. It should do well in southern Cal. and the Gulf coast.

P. aculenta is not a vine, it is actually a wax rose, which is
the same family but a different plant: Perescia bleo.

Origin: tropical America. It is a member of the Cactus family
and therefore has spiny stems. One of the most attractive for
use in gardens, it can grow to 3 metres in height but can also
be kept pruned into a bushy shrub; it has woody stems, fleshy, pale green leaves, and creamy orange to pinkish flowers followed by funny yellow fruit (see pics). Pereskia likes full sun and dry conditions. Propagation is by means of cuttings.

This is an uncommon cactus, a climber with real, fleshy leaves. The spines are present though (not like P. grandiflora, where there are only vestiges of spines), and they are quite rough. One can use this to cover fences, for safety´s sake. The flower is flat, pink to white, very attractive.