Flora of North America species comparison

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.

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.

(0–)1–6(–12) per areole, white to yellow, usually red to dark brown at extreme bases, aging gray to ± black, subulate, straight to curved, flattened to angular at least near base, the longest spreading to strongly reflexed, 10–30(–50) mm.

in dense crescent of adaxial edge of areole and in dense tuft overtopping crescent in age, yellow to red-brown, to 4 mm.

widely spaced, sparse in crescent at adaxial edge, encircling areole or nearly so, and scattered in subapical tuft, yellow to red-brown, aging gray to blackish, of irregular lengths, to 10 mm.

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 uniformly yellow to buff, sometimes orange to pink to red (rarely whitish), 30–40 mm;

filaments, anthers, and style whitish to cream;

stigma lobes yellow-green to green.

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.

dark red to purple throughout, sometimes stipitate, ovate-elongate to barrel-shaped, 35–90 × 20–40 mm, juicy (bleeding and staining), glabrous, spineless;

areoles 20–32 usually toward apex.

tan, 3.5–4.5 mm diam., thickish;

girdle protruding to 1 mm.

tan to grayish, subcircular to deltoid, flattened, 2.5–6 × 2–5 mm;

girdle protruding 0.3–0.5 mm.