''Opuntia polyacantha'' is a common species of

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 ...

known by the common names plains pricklypear,Johnson, K. A. 2000
''Opuntia polyacantha''.
In: Fire Effects Information System, nline U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Retrieved May 11, 2011.''Opuntia polyacantha''.
USDA Plants Profile. Retrieved May 11, 2011. starvation pricklypear,.''Opuntia polyacantha''.
Flora of North America. Retrieved May 11, 2011. and hairspine cactus, panhandle pricklypear.''Opuntia polyacantha''.
The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved May 11, 2011. It is native to North America, where it is widespread in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

, the

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 ...

, the central and

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

, and

Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places *Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mun ...

in northern Mexico. In 2018, a disjunct population was discovered in the

Thousand Islands The Thousand Islands (french: Mille-Îles) constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for abo ...

region of

Ontario, Canada Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Habitat

This cactus grows in a wide variety of habitat types, including

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west. Following is an alph ...

Ponderosa pine forest Ponderosa pine forest is a plant association and plant community dominated by ponderosa pine and found in western North America. It is found from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast Ranges in the Western United States and Western Canada. In t ...

, prairie, savanna, shrublands, shrubsteppe,

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

, pinyon-juniper woodland, and scrub. Individual plants tend to thrive in sandy soil. A new plant can grow from a displaced stem segment.

Description

''Opuntia polyacantha'' grows up to tall. It forms low mats of pads which may be wide. Its succulent green pads are oval or circular and reach wide. Its

areole In botany, areoles are small light- to dark-colored bumps on cacti out of which grow clusters of spines. Areoles are important diagnostic features of cacti, and identify them as a family distinct from other succulent plants. Gordon Rowley - W ...

s are tipped with woolly brown fibers and

glochid Glochids or glochidia (singular "glochidium") are hair-like spines or short prickles, generally barbed, found on the areoles of cacti in the sub-family ''Opuntioideae''. Cactus glochids easily detach from the plant and lodge in the skin, causin ...

s. Many of the areoles have spines which are quite variable in size and shape. They may be in length, stout or thin, straight or curling, and any of a variety of colors. Flowers grow from spine-covered stem segments which are shaped like semi-flattened pears. The flowers are long and may be yellow, magenta, or red in color (tending to turn pink or orange with age). The fruit is cylindrical, brownish, dry and spiny. The cactus reproduces by seed, by

layering Layering has evolved as a common means of vegetative propagation of numerous species in natural environments. Layering is also utilized by horticulturists to propagate desirable plants. Natural layering typically occurs when a branch touches ...

, and by resprouting from detached segments. In its natural range it survives throughout an immense range of temperatures, ranging from in the

Yukon Territory Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, to well above in places like

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 ...

. There are many expressions of ''O. polyacantha'' and variation is common. Multiple varieties have been proposed. Some are accepted by modern authorities and some require further study.

Uses

Native Americans used it as a

medicinal plant Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against her ...

, with different parts treating various symptoms. This pricklypear provides food for many types of animals. It provides over half the winter food for the

black-tailed prairie dog The black-tailed prairie dog (''Cynomys ludovicianus'') is a rodent of the family Sciuridae found in the Great Plains of North America from about the United States-Canada border to the United States-Mexico border. Unlike some other prairie dogs, ...

in one area.

Pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...

antelope eat it, especially after the spines are burned off in

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

s. Ranchers intentionally burn stands of the plant to make it palatable for livestock when little other food is available. It will also grow in waste areas where good forage will not take hold. In fact, an abundance of the cactus indicates land that is poor in quality. Several insects attack the cactus, including the cactus moth ''

Melitara dentata ''Melitara dentata'', the North American cactus moth, is a moth of the family Pyralidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1876. It is native to western North America, where it is widespread from Alberta to southern ...

'', the blue cactus borer ''

Olycella subumbrella ''Melitara subumbrella'' is a species of snout moth in the genus '' Melitara''. It was described by Harrison Gray Dyar Jr. in 1925. It is widespread in western North America, from southern Alberta and Saskatchewan to southern Arizona, central Tex ...

'', and the cactus bug ''

Chelinidea vittiger ''Chelinidea vittiger'', known generally as cactus coreid, is a species of leaf-footed bug in the family Coreidae Coreidae is a large family of predominantly sap-sucking insects in the Hemipteran suborder Heteroptera. The name "Coreidae" deri ...

''. ''O. polyacantha'' provided the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

with opportunity for admiration and more often complaint about the plant. With the skin and seeds removed, the fruit can be eaten raw or made into candy.

References

External links

Jepson eFlora (TJM2): ''Opuntia polyacantha''Species account and photographs from Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Information Network (NPIN)''Opuntia polyacantha'' — UC CalPhotos Gallery

Opuntia polyacantha photo gallery at Opuntia Web
{{Authority control polyacantha Cacti of Canada Cacti of Mexico Cacti of the United States Flora of the Great Plains (North America) Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of Western Canada Flora of California Flora of the California desert regions Flora of Chihuahua (state) Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of Texas Natural history of the Mojave Desert Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Plant dyes