Opuntia humifusa |
Opuntia pusilla |
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devil's-tongue, eastern prickly-pear |
cockspur pricklypear, dune prickly-pear, sandbur 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, creeping, often forming mats, trailing, to 0.1 m. Stem segments easily detached, green, purplish red under stress, flattened, elliptic to linear, sometimes subcylindric (to subspheric), 2.5–5(–8) × 1.2–2.5 cm, tuberculate, glabrous; areoles 2–5 per diagonal row across midstem segment, subcircular, 2–3 mm diam.; wool tan to gray. | ||||
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. |
(0–)1–2(–4) per areole, in distal 3/4 of stem segment areoles (to nearly spineless), porrect to spreading, red-brown, aging gray, stout, straight, terete, to 30 mm, strongly barbed. |
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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 crescent at adaxial edge of areole, pale yellow, aging brown, to 3 mm, longest at areole apex. |
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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, 20–30 mm; filaments and anthers yellow; style and stigma lobes white. |
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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. |
green becoming red-purple at late maturity, barrel-shaped, 18–30 × 12–20 mm, fleshy, glabrous, spineless; areoles 8–16. |
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Seeds | tan, 3.5–4.5 mm diam., thickish; girdle protruding to 1 mm. |
tan, subcircular, flattened, 4–6 mm diam.; girdle slightly protruding. |
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2n | = 44. |
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Opuntia humifusa |
Opuntia pusilla |
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Phenology | Flowering spring (Apr–May). | |||||
Habitat | Dune and pine scrub, primarily coastal, sandy openings, dunes, or rocky outcrops | |||||
Elevation | 0-100 m (0-300 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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AL; FL; MS; NC; SC; TX; Ga
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (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. 130. | ||||
Parent taxa | Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Opuntia | Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Opuntia | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Cactus humifusus | Cactus pusillus, O. drummondii, O. tracyi | ||||
Name authority | (Rafinesque) Rafinesque: Med. Fl. 2: 247. (1830) | (Haworth) Haworth: Syn. Pl. Succ., 195. (1812) | ||||
Web links |
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