Opuntia covillei, California prickly pear cactus, spines

Opuntia covillei, close view of spines.

Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Photograph (Britton and Rose, 1919); Painting; Drawing (JJ Thornber; The Fantastic Clan of the Cactus Family)

Original Description

What is Opuntia covillei?

Opuntia covillei is a medium-sized prickly-pear of inland southern California, forming angular, spreading shrubs and frequent thickets. Plants commonly reach 50–100 cm tall and to about 1 m across; armament is conspicuous on joints and older stems.

Details

Shrubs: low to medium-sized, thicket-forming, branches ascending to spreading; bases woody and well-armed. Cladodes: pale green, often slightly glaucous, about 9–20(–25) cm long, areoles spaced roughly 2–4 cm apart. Areoles & glochids: areoles numerous; glochids present, easily detached. Spines: most areoles with 2–5(–7) slender, straight to slightly curved spines, white-brown to brown, longest to ~5–7 cm; armament densest on older joints. Flowers: bright yellow; inner tepals sometimes with a faint greenish cast; anthers yellow; style pale; stigma lobes green. Fruits: red when mature, mildly tuberculate, relatively long; ovary ~4–5 cm with few areoles, most spineless though a few fruits may bear short spines. Seeds: about 5 mm in diameter, numerous.

Cytology

Unknown.

Range & Habitat

Inland valleys and foothill margins of southern California, including the bases of Mt. San Bernardino, Mt. Baldy, and Mt. San Gorgonio, and desertward foothills near Banning; typically on well-drained, often stony substrates in shrubland or grassland ecotones.

Similar or Sympatric Species

Opuntia littoralis — coastal, broader joints, heavier.
Opuntia oricola — taller, longer pads, coastal canyons.
Opuntia occidentalis — larger joints, stouter spines overall.
Opuntia phaeacantha — inland, variable pads and spines.
Opuntia engelmannii — taller clumps, elongated pads, robust.

Other Notes

Reported from inland sites rather than strictly coastal ones. Some plants have been misidentified or labeled as hybrids; the taxon reproduces true to type. It may be conspecific with Opuntia megacarpa, described about the same time, but the name O. covillei has priority.

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