Opuntia littoralis |
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coastal prickly pear, prickly pear |
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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 |
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Phenology | Flowering spring (Apr–May). |
Habitat | Coastal sage scrub, chaparral |
Elevation | 10-400 m (0-1300 ft) |
Distribution |
Calif (including Channel Islands); Mexico (Baja California)
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Source | FNA vol. 4. |
Parent taxa | Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Opuntia |
Sibling taxa | |
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 |