The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

coastal prickly pear, prickly pear

Habit Shrubs, spreading to sprawling, forming large clumps, to 1 × 1–9 m.
Stem

segments not disarticulating, green, flattened, elliptic to obovate to rhombic, 15–25(–40) × 6.5–14 cm, ± tuberculate, glabrous, usually glaucous;

areoles 5–7(–8) per diagonal row across midstem segment, prominent, subcircular(-oval), 4–6 × 4–5 mm, enlarging in age;

wool gray.

Spines

4–11 per areole, in most areoles, yellow with chalky white coat, to yellow with red-brown basal portions, aging reddish gray;

erect ones terete, stout, straight;

abaxial ones reflexed, shorter, to 12 mm;

adaxial spines spreading, longest spines 20–40 mm.

Glochids

moderately dense in crescent at adaxial edge of areole, merging with subapical tuft when present, yellow to red-brown, to 5 mm.

Flowers

inner tepals yellow to dull red throughout, 35–45 mm;

filaments yellow to orange-yellow;

anthers yellow;

style pink to red;

stigma lobes yellow-green to green.

Fruits

dark red-purple throughout, obovoid, 35–50 × 30–35 mm, juicy, glabrous, spineless;

areoles 22–36.

Seeds

gray, subcircular, warped, 3–4.5 mm diam.;

girdle protruding 0.5 mm.

2n

= 66.

Opuntia littoralis

Phenology Flowering spring (Apr–May).
Habitat Coastal sage scrub, chaparral
Elevation 10-400 m (0-1300 ft)
Distribution
from USDA
Calif (including Channel Islands); Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 4.
Parent taxa Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Opuntia
Sibling taxa
O. aciculata, O. atrispina, O. aurea, O. aureispina, O. basilaris, O. chisosensis, O. chlorotica, O. cubensis, O. ellisiana, O. engelmannii, O. ficus-indica, O. fragilis, O. humifusa, O. macrocentra, O. macrorhiza, O. microdasys, O. oricola, O. phaeacantha, O. pinkavae, O. polyacantha, O. pottsii, O. pusilla, O. rufida, O. santa-rita, O. stricta, O. strigil, O. tortispina, O. triacantha, O. ×columbiana, O. ×curvispina, O. ×occidentalis, O. ×spinosibacca, O. ×vaseyi
Synonyms O. engelmannii var. littoralis, O. lindheimeri var. littoralis, O. occidentalis var. littoralis, O. semispinosa
Name authority (Engelmann) Cockerell: Bull. S. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4: 15. (1905)
Web links