Opuntiads of the USA

(by Joe Shaw and Dave Ferguson)

Go to Oblog, the Cactus Blog

Opuntiads.com HOME

Opuntia Country No. 1
Opuntia Country No. 2
Opuntia Country No. 3
Opuntia Country No. 4
Opuntia Country No. 5

Opuntia Country with
Daiv Freeman

Northern Patagonia Cactus Trip

Opuntia angustata Engelmann, 1856

Opuntia angustata is a poorly documented species found in western Arizona and adjacent portions of southern Nevada and Californa (near Needles). Britton and Rose (The Cactaceae vol. 1, 1919, pg. 142) provide an early description of this taxon that was described by Engelmann in 1856.

The plants were in fruit in Kingman, AZ in June, 2007 and June, 2009. O. angustata was also found in mountainous areas 50-60 miles north of Kingman at 3,500 to 5,000 ft. elevation (approximate) in 2009. Additionally in 2009, plants that may have been O. angustata were observed in Bagdad, AZ.

Spines were pale (often chalky white) but tuning brown towards the base. There were typically 2-3 major spines per areole; one spine was always almost always (strongly) deflexed downward. If three spines were present, only one stood out perpendicular to the cladode. Cladodes were often noticeably longer than wide (at least some cladodes per plant). Plants grew from a single main stem and were often prostrate spreading or procumbent, seldom seeming to form shrubs. Areoles were generally brown or dark-brown and smaller than those of O. valida, which was concurrent.

Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like
Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like
Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like
Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia valida-like
Opuntia valida-like	Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like
Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like
Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like
Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like
Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like
Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like	Opuntia angustata-like
Opuntia angustata-like		Opuntia valida cladode (spinier than O. angustata), Kingman, AZ; it is difficult to see pink-brown at spine bases in this photo
Opuntia angustata, Kingman, AZ, June 2007	Close-up, Opuntia angustata cladode, cladode with few spines per arole	Close-up, cladode growing along soil
Opuntia angustata, yellow-green plant (center, right), Kingman, AZ	Opuntia angustata, Kingman area, AZ, near intersection of Hwy. 92 and Interstate 40, typical appearance in the drought year (June, 2007)	Opuntia angustata (foreground, far right) growing with Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa, O. basilaris, and Yucca baccata, Kingman, AZ, June 2007
Opuntia angustata habitat, Kingman, AZ	Opuntia valida, upright shrub-type growth, growing with Acacia sp., Some adjacent O. valida plants were prostrate	O. valida often had spines that were pink-brown at bases, O valida is noticeably spinier than O. angustata and generally has more pronounced areoles