''Opuntia phaeacantha'' is a species of

prickly pear cactus ''Opuntia'', commonly called prickly pear or pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', ''nopal'' (paddle, plural ''nopales'') from the Nahuatl word f ...

known by the common names tulip prickly pear, Mojave prickly pear, and desert prickly pear found across the

southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

, lower

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

, and northern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The plant forms dense but localized thickets. Several varieties of this particular species occur, and it also hybridizes easily with other prickly pears, making identification sometimes tricky.

Description

''Opuntia phaeacantha'' has a mounding habit of flattened green pads. The pads are protected by clusters of spines. Each cluster bearing 1-4 spines. The spines are brown, reddish-brown, or gray, and often over 3 cm in length. At the base of the spine cluster is a round tuft of easily detached brown bristles called Glochids. Glochids are also present on the fruit. This is the source for the plants common name "prickly pear". The flowers are bright yellow with a pale green center. Some plants produce yellow flowers with an orange-red center. The edible fruits are red or purple with a pink seedy flesh. The fruit has a mild watermelon or pear flavor. Both the fruit and the fleshy pads provide an important food resource for desert wildlife. This plant, like other ''Opuntia'' species, is attacked by

cactus moth ''Cactoblastis cactorum'', the cactus moth, South American cactus moth or nopal moth, is native to Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and southern Brazil. It is one of five species in the genus ''Cactoblastis'' that inhabit South America, where many par ...

. Older names for this species, and names for old species which are now considered variants of this species, include plateau prickly pear, brown-spined prickly-pear, Mojave prickly pear, and Kingman prickly pear. The species is widespread, from California south to Mexico and the Southwest United States. There are multiple variations and perhaps these will be described as varieties or full species some day.

Uses

The cactus can be prepared as food in a similar fashion to ''

Opuntia humifusa ''Opuntia humifusa'', commonly known as the devil's-tongue, Eastern prickly pear or Indian fig, is a cactus of the genus ''Opuntia'' present in parts of the eastern United States. Description As is the case in other ''Opuntia'' species, the gr ...

''.

References

External links

''Opuntia phaeacantha'' Photo Gallery 1''Opuntia phaeacantha'' Photo Gallery 2Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Opuntia phaeacantha''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q136725 phaeacantha Cacti of Mexico Cacti of the United States Flora of Northwestern Mexico Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the Great Plains (North America) Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Chihuahuan Desert Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Flora of California Flora of Kansas Flora of New Mexico Flora of Oklahoma Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of Texas Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the Mojave Desert Flora of the Mexican Plateau North American desert flora Desert fruits