A new nothospecies of the Opuntia from Mexico, Opuntia ×soumaya, is described and illustrated based on morphological characters and molecular evidence. The new species resembles species associated with the Basilares complex, in particular O. megacantha based on cladode shape and spines, but can be distinguished by epidermis, flowers, fruit, seeds and setose hairs of the immature cladodes. The phylogenetic hypothesis was performed with maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian Inference where some Mexican species are included. Opuntia ×soumaya is recovered as an independent species within Opuntia s.str. Morphological characters, distribution, and conservation status of the new species are also presented.
César Ramiro Martínez-González (Mon,) studied this question.