''Opuntia basilaris'', the beavertail cactus or beavertail pricklypear, is a

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 Gree ...

species found in the

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It occurs mostly in the Mojave, Anza-Borrego, and

Colorado Desert California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna. Geography and geology The Colorado D ...

s, as well as in the Colorado Plateau and northwest

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. It is also found throughout the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

and

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

region as well as into southern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, and in the western

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

regions along the

Lower Colorado River Valley The Lower Colorado River Valley (LCRV) is the river region of the lower Colorado River of the southwestern United States in North America that rises in the Rocky Mountains and has its outlet at the Colorado River Delta in the northern Gulf of C ...

Description

''Opuntia basilaris'' is a medium-sized to small prickly pear

tall, with pink to rose colored flowers. A single plant may consist of hundreds of fleshy, flattened pads. These are more or less blue-gray, depending on variety, long and less than wide and thick. They are typically spineless, but as is typical for ''Opuntia'' species, have many small barbed bristles, called

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, that easily penetrate the skin. ''Opuntia basilaris'' blooms from spring to early summer.

Taxonomy

One of the first known descriptions of ''opuntia basilaris'' come from the reports of the explorations and surveys for a railroad route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. This expedition followed the 35^th parallel through New Mexico, Arizona, and California. In the 4^th volume of this report, ''The Botany of the Expedition,'' by George Engelmann and John M. Bigelow, O''puntia basilaris'' is described as a stout fan shaped opuntia resembling an open cabbage head, with accompanying illustrations.

Varieties

The species is variable in nature and several names under different ranks have been described. Only four of these are generally accepted. * ''Opuntia basilaris'' var. ''basilaris'' (2n=22) * ''Opuntia basilaris'' var. ''brachyclada'' (2n=22) – Little beavertail pricklypear * ''Opuntia basilaris'' var. ''heilii'' (2n=22) – Heil's beavertail * ''Opuntia basilaris'' var. ''longiareolata'' (2n=22) – Elongated beavertail prickly pear or Grand Canyon beavertail pricklypear * ''Opuntia basilaris'' var. ''treleasei''(2n=33) – Trelease's beavertail prickly pear, Bakersfield cactus (This variety is designated as endangered under the federal

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or "The Act"; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of ec ...

and

California Endangered Species Act In 1970 California became one of the first states in the U.S. to implement an act that conserves and protects endangered species and their environments. The California Endangered Species Act (CESA) declares that "all native species of fishes, amph ...

, which means that killing or possessing it is prohibited in California) Some experts consider the Trelease's beavertail to be a full species (Bowen 1987, R. van de Hoek). It is unique among the varieties of ''Opuntia basilaris'' in that the areoles contain spines in addition to the bristles; this indicates that the species does vary a lot in its exterior.

Distribution and Habitat

This species of cactus is found in the Southwest US regions including California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Northwestern Sonora, Mexico. This plant can be found in chaparral, desert, and grassland. This cactus grows in well draining mediums composed of sand, gravel, cobble, or even on boulders.

Chemistry

''Opuntia basilaris'' contains 0.01%

mescaline Mescaline or mescalin (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine) is a naturally occurring psychedelic protoalkaloid of the substituted phenethylamine class, known for its hallucinogenic effects comparable to those of LSD and psilocybin. Biological ...

and 4-hydroxy-3-5-dimethoxyphenethylamine.

Uses

The

Cahuilla The Cahuilla , also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California. The Diegueño would consume it as a dried fruit after removing the thorns. The Shoshone Native American Tribe took advantage of the analgesic properties of this cactus by creating a poultice from the inner mucilage to treat minor cuts.

References

External links

*
Flora of North AmericaRangeMap

Photo gallery

Opuntia basilaris photo gallery at Opuntia Web

Malki Museum
{{Taxonbar, from=Q136763 basilaris Cacti of Mexico Cacti of the United States Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Flora of Arizona Flora of California Flora of Baja California Flora of Sonora Flora of Utah Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the Central Valley (California) Natural history of the Colorado Desert Natural history of the Grand Canyon Natural history of the Mojave Desert Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the Transverse Ranges North American desert flora