''Opuntia fragilis'', known by the common names brittle pricklypear and little prickly pear, is a prickly pear

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

native to much of western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

as well as some midwestern states such as Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan. It also occurs in several Canadian provinces. It is known from farther north than any other cactus, occurring at as far as 56°N latitude in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. There is an isolated and possibly genetically unique population in

Eastern Ontario Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It s ...

known as the "Kaladar population".

Description

''Opuntia fragilis'' is a small, prostrate plant, rarely more than high: joints tumid, fragile, easily detached, oval, elliptical, or subglobose, long and nearly as thick as broad, bright green: areoles apart, with whitish wool and a few white to yellow bristles, which are much longer and more abundant on older joints; spines 1–4, occasionally a few small additional ones, weak, dark brown, the upper one usually longer and stronger than the others, rarely in length: flowers greenish yellow, wide: fruit ovate to subglobose with few spines or bristles, mostly sterile, or less long; seeds few and large.Haw.

Subspecies and varieties

*Var. ''brachyarthra'', Coult. A plant with more swollen joints, more numerous and stronger spines, smaller flowers and more spiny fruit Colorado, New Mexico. *Var. ''caespitosa'', Hort. Joints bright green, smaller and more crowded than in the type: flowers bright yellow. Colorado. * *Var. ''tuberiformis'', Hort. Joints olive-green, bulbous-looking. Colorado.

Gallery

Opuntia fragilis "Feldberg" (9215688536).jpg Roadside BrittlePickly-Pear Cactus (Opuntia fragillis) near Savona - (28639189495).jpg Roadside BrittlePickly-Pear Cactus (Opuntia fragillis) near Savona - (28560479001).jpg Steingarten Kaktus.jpg, ''Opuntia fragilis'' var. ''denudata'' Opuntia fragilis 'Frankfurt' (WikiPlant).jpg, ''Opuntia fragilis'' var. ''denudata'' Opuntia fragilis pm.jpg, A hybrid

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment''Opuntia fragilis'' Photo galleryOpuntia fragilis photo gallery at Opuntia Web
{{Authority control fragilis Cacti of Canada Cacti of the United States Flora of Western Canada Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America) Flora of the Great Plains (North America) Flora of California Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of Michigan Flora of New Mexico Flora of Ontario Flora of the Rocky Mountains Flora of Texas Plants described in 1819 Taxa named by Thomas Nuttall Garden plants of North America