Opuntia polyacantha |
Opuntia pottsii |
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hair-spine prickly pear, panhandle prickly pear, plains prickly pear, starvation prickly-pear |
Potts' prickly-pear |
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Habit | Shrubs, low, 10–25 cm, with ± prostrate branches. | Shrubs, forming clumps, to 0.4 m, often from tuberlike rootstocks. | ||||||||||||||||
Stem | segments not easily detached, green, elliptic to narrowly to broadly obovate to circular, 4–27 × 2–18 cm, low tuberculate; areoles 4–14 per diagonal row across midstem segment, subcircular, 3–6 mm; wool tan to brown. |
segments not easily detached, dark green, cuneate-obovate to commonly rhombic, 5–20 × 4–8 cm, fleshy but firm; areoles 4–6(–8) per diagonal row across midstem segment, oval to subcircular, 2–4 mm diam.; wool tan. |
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Spines | at all or only distal areoles of stem segment, terete to flattened, stout to acicular to bristlelike, straight to curling, of 1 or 2 kinds; if 1 kind: 0–18 per areole, spreading and curling in various directions, sometimes straight, erect, ascending to deflexed, yellow to dark brown to black, turning gray, pink-gray to gray-brown, longest (35–)40–90(–185) mm; if ± 2 kinds: major spines (0–)1–5, reflexed to porrect, yellow-brown to brown to gray, longest 20–150 mm; minor spines (0–)5–11, deflexed, white to white-gray, longest 4–16 mm. |
(0–)1–6 per areole, usually in distal 40% of stem segment, gray-white to red-brown, erect or reflexed, terete or proximal ones flattened, sometimes spirally twisted, longest to 60 mm, very slender, 0.2 mm diam. |
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Glochids | inconspicuous, in narrow, tidy crescent at adaxial edge of areole or in broad, brushy crescent and tuft, yellow to reddish, aging brown, to 10 mm. |
well developed in adaxial tuft, yellow or tan to brown-red, aging dull brown, to 6 mm. |
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Flowers | inner tepals yellow to magenta throughout, 25–40 mm; filaments white, yellow, or red to magenta (flowers may superficially appear bicolored); anthers yellow; style white to pale pink; stigma lobes green. |
inner tepals red throughout or with red basal portions, 25–35 mm; filaments pale yellow; anthers yellow; style whitish; stigma lobes cream to yellow. |
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Fruits | tan to brown, ± cylindric, 15–45 × 12–25 mm, dry at maturity, glabrous, sometimes burlike; areoles 10–33, each or only distal areoles bearing 3–16 spines, 4–20 mm. |
green to yellowish to dull red, long stipitate, elongate-obovoid, 25–40 × 15–40 mm, fleshy, base not narrowed, glabrous, spineless or nearly so; umbilicus deep; areoles 14–26. |
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Seeds | tan to gray, flattened, warped, oblong to subcircular, 3–7 × 2–4 mm; girdle protruding 1–2 mm. |
tan to gray, subcircular, 4–5 mm, thickish, warped; girdle protruding to 0.5 mm. |
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2n | = 44. |
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Opuntia polyacantha |
Opuntia pottsii |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–early summer (May–Jul). | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Plains, hills, sandy or loamy soils | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 900-1900 m (3000-6200 ft) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; KS; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OK; SD; TX; UT; WY; AB; SK; n Mexico
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AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua)
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Discussion | Varieties 5 (5 in the flora). Populations of Opuntia polyacantha with spines few or absent (especially var. hystricina) were the basis for several names including O. juniperina, O. utahensis, and O. rhodantha. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Plants of Opuntia pottsii that are intermediate morphologically to O. macrorhiza are known in Arizona. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 4. | FNA vol. 4, p. 132. | ||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Opuntia | Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Opuntia | ||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Cactus ferox, Tunas polyacantha | O. ballii, O. delicata, O. filipendula, O. macrorhiza var. pottsii | ||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Haworth: Suppl. Pl. Succ., 82. (1819) | Salm-Dyck: Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849, 236. (1850) | ||||||||||||||||
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