prickly pear
Opuntia engelmannii
Summary 6
Opuntia engelmannii is a species of flowering plant commonly known as prickly pear, cow's tongue cactus, and discus prickly pear. It is common throughout the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
Botanical Information 7
Opuntia engelmannii, or commonly known as a prickly pear is a paddle-shaped cactus. Its pads grows from 4 to 18 inches in length and up to 9 inches in width. The cactus can grow up to 7 ft. tall. Long thorns protrude from the pads. The cactus has flowers that are purple, yellow, or red which bloom in early spring to summer. It also has edible fruit called tuna in Spanish.
Ecological Information 6
The prickly pear most commonly found in sunny desert climates.
Ethnobotanical Information 6
The prickly pear has medicinal uses and its pads and fruits are edible.
References 8
- Bioweb.uwl.edu
- WedMD.com
About the Author 8
Student author(s)*: Sophie (age 10) from Sacred Heart Homeschool Coop
*The entries in this field guide have been edited by Yerba Mansa Project staff to ensure that they contain quality, fact-checked content and standardized formatting.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/pauljill/9860164834/
- (c) Brent Miller, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/foliosus/33384339704/
- (c) jeh amm ink, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/hammink/240048027/
- (c) Puddin Tain, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/puddintain850/49507450713/
- (c) Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/pauljill/18806521672/
- (c) smiller33, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
- Adapted by smiller33 from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia
- (c) caseynm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- Calflora
- CalPhotos
- eFloras.org
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- Jepson eFlora
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- World Flora Online
iNat Map
| Color | pink, red, yellow |
|---|---|
| Fruit | red |
| Type | cactus |
