New Mexico Prickly Pear Cactus
Author: Ray Bowers

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Species: Opuntia phaeacantha

Description:
The New Mexico prickly pear cactus is 30 to 130 cm ( 11.8 to 51.2 in ) long perennial plant. The plant is made of jointed stems that are flat oblong green pads. The 15 to 25 cm (5.9 to 9.8 in ) pads have evenly spaced clusters of round 2 to 5 cm (0,8 to 2.0 in ) long spines.

Geographic range:
The New Mexico prickly pear is found from Arizona to Texas , and from Colorado south to northern Mexico.

Habitat:
The New Mexico prickly pear cactus grows in sandy, gravelly and rocky soils. It is found from 1,070 to 2,290 m ( 3,500 to 7,500 ft ) in elevation.

Reproduction and Development:
The New Mexico prickly pear cactus is a monoecious plant that blooms from March through May, and it is pollinated by a variety of insects. The flowers have yellow petals and some may have some red at the base. The oval reddish purple fruit is about 5 cm ( 2in ) in length with small spherical seeds.

Other info:
The new pads of the New Mexico prickly pear cactus are called nopalitos and can be eaten as vegetables after the spines are removed. The fruits, which are high in vitamin C, are called tunas and are collected and used for jellies and syrups. A variety of wildlife feed on prickly pears and coyotes are especially fond of the fruit. The fleshy inner material of a pad can be used to soothe bruises and burns.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophaeales
Family: Cactaceae
Genus: Opuntia
Species: Opuntia phaeacantha

References:
Allred, Kelly W. 2000. A Field Guide to the Flora of the Jornada Plain Las Cruces :NMSU Department of Animal and Range Science.

Kearney , Thomas H. and Robert H. Peebles. 1951. Arizona Flora. Berkeley , California: University of California Press.

Niehaus, Theodore F. 1984. A Field Guide to Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company.

MacMahon, James A. 1987. Deserts. New York : Alfred A. Knoph, Inc.

Wooton, E.O. and Paul C. Standley. 1915. Flora of New Mexico . Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, Vol 19. Washington: Government Printing Office.

Related Terms: Magnoliophyta, Magnoliopsida