Opuntia humifusa |
Opuntia atrispina |
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devil's-tongue, eastern prickly-pear |
border pricklypear |
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Habit | Shrubs, forming clumps or often prostrate, usually only 1 or 2 stem segments tall, to 0.5 m (except in Florida where they may be erect and reach to 2+ m with short trunk), flattened to obovoid, sometimes from tuberlike rootstocks. | Shrubs, erect to sprawling, 0.5–1 m. Stem segments not easily detached, green, flattened, obovate to circular, 10–15 × 7.5–12 cm, nearly smooth, glabrous; areoles 5–7 per diagonal row across midstem segment, ovate or oblong to obovate, 3–5 mm; wool tan. | ||||
Stem | segments not disarticulating, dark or bright shiny green, wrinkling when stressed, circular to broadly oblong to obovate, 5–17.5 × 4–12 cm, fleshy, usually tuberculate, glabrous; areoles 4–6 per diagonal row across midstem segment, oval to circular, 2–4 mm diam., not raised, sometimes somewhat sunken; wool tan to brown. |
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Spines | often absent or 1–2(–3) per areole, spreading, whitish to brownish, terete, straight, and usually stout, 25–60 mm; occasionally also 1 deflexed spine present. |
4–7 per areole, mostly in distal areoles, black to red-brown with conspicuous brown to yellow tips, fading gray; longer spines ascending, usually straight, acicular, terete, 25–35 mm; 1–2 smaller spines deflexed, chalky white, to 10 mm; 0–4 additional very small spines. |
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Glochids | in dense crescent of adaxial edge of areole and in dense tuft overtopping crescent in age, yellow to red-brown, to 4 mm. |
in bushy crescent at adaxial edge of areole and dense subapical tuft, yellow to brown, aging blackish, of unequal lengths, to 5 mm. |
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Flowers | inner tepals pale to bright yellow throughout, 20–30 mm diam.; filaments yellow to orange; anthers pale yellow to cream; style and stigma lobes white. |
inner tepals yellow throughout, quickly fading to apricot, 25–30 mm; filaments and anthers yellow; style whitish; stigma lobes greenish yellow to yellow. |
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Fruits | greenish, tardily becoming apricot to brownish red, elongate, 30–50 × 12–20 mm, fleshy, tapering at base; pulp green and sour, becoming reddish and sweet under ideal conditions; areoles 10–18. |
red-purple, green-yellow interior, spheric-obovoid to pyriform, 15–20 × 12 mm, fleshy, glabrous, spineless; areoles 20–25. |
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Seeds | tan, 3.5–4.5 mm diam., thickish; girdle protruding to 1 mm. |
tan to gray, subcircular, 3–4 mm diam; girdle narrowly protruding. |
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2n | = 22. |
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Opuntia humifusa |
Opuntia atrispina |
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Phenology | Flowering spring. | |||||
Habitat | Grasslands, shrublands, limestone hills | |||||
Elevation | 400-700 m (1300-2300 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AL; AR; CT; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; WI; WV; ON
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TX |
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Opuntia atrispina has been reported from Coahuila, Mexico (H. Bravo-H. and H. Sánchez-M. 1978–1991, vol. 1), but has not been confirmed by the author. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 130. | FNA vol. 4, p. 137. | ||||
Parent taxa | Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Opuntia | Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Opuntia | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Cactus humifusus | |||||
Name authority | (Rafinesque) Rafinesque: Med. Fl. 2: 247. (1830) | Griffiths: Rep. (Annual) Missouri Bot. Gard. 21: 172, plate 26 (lower). (1910) | ||||
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