beavertail cactus (Cactus of Metro Phoenix (April 2021 EcoQuest Guide))

beavertail cactus

Opuntia basilaris

Summary ⁸

Opuntia basilaris, the beavertail cactus or beavertail pricklypear, is a cactus species found in the southwest United States. It occurs mostly in the Mojave, Anza-Borrego, and Colorado Deserts, as well as in the Colorado Plateau and northwest Mexico. It is also found throughout the Grand Canyon and Colorado River region as well as into southern Utah and Nevada, and in the western Arizona regions along the Lower Colorado River Valley. Opuntia basilaris is a mediu

Description ⁹

Opuntia basilaris is a medium-sized to small prickly pear cactus 70–400 mm (2.8–15.7 in) tall, with pink to rose colored flowers. A single plant may consist of hundreds of fleshy, flattened pads. These are more or less blue-gray, depending on variety, 50–210 mm (2.0–8.3 in) long and less than 100 mm (3.9 in) wide and 10–15 mm (0.4–0.6 in) thick. They are typically spineless, but as is typical for Opuntia species, have many small barbed bristles, called glochids, that easily penetrate the skin. Opuntia basilaris blooms from spring to early summer.

Deep magenta-red filaments and white to pink style

Each areole supports many glochids but are usually without spines.

Buds, in Joshua Tree National Park

Flowers, in Joshua Tree National Park

Uses ⁹

The Cahuilla Native Americans used beavertail as a food staple. The buds were cooked or steamed, and then were eaten or stored. The large seeds were ground up to be eaten as mush.

Varieties ⁹

The species is variable in nature and several names under different ranks have been described. Only four of these are generally accepted.

Some experts consider the Trelease's beavertail to be a full species (Bowen 1987, R. van de Hoek). It is unique among the varieties of Opuntia basilaris in that the areoles contain spines in addition to the bristles; this indicates that the species does vary a lot in its exterior.

Sources and Credits

(c) Katy, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Katy
(c) Tony Frates, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tony Frates
(c) Cedric Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Cedric Lee
(c) Vince Scheidt, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Vince Scheidt
(c) David Greenberger, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by David Greenberger
no rights reserved, uploaded by rockybajada
(c) bwainwright, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Adapted by Jeny Davis from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia_basilaris
(c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia_basilaris

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