Arizona-

Griffiths, Annual Report of the Missouri Botanical Garden 21: 169, 1910

Herbarium; Drawing (Britton and Rose, v1 1919, fig 174); Painting; Painting

What is Opuntia lubrica?

Opuntia lubrica is a prickly pear cactus that has some similarity to O. rufida. However, O. lubrica has shiny pads that are not pubescent as in the other cactus.

Details

Cladodes of the current year may be nearly circular or obovate and 15 cm inches wide by approximately 20 cm long.  This prickly pear has tight, dense clumps of prominent but short glochids (4-5 mm), yellow to dark rust red, in a crescent adaxially. Glochids can increase in number and length on older stems and may eventually populate the entirety of areoles rather than remaining in a cresent.  Sometimes there are a few spines or many (same color as the glochids), but often the plants are spineless. If spines are present they can increase with age to over  a dozen per areole. Spines may be 12 mm long or longer. 

The flowers are bright yellow, typically a little greenish in the center, sometimes developing a brassy or slightly orange hue as they age.  Fruit is often bright red with a green rind and red pulp. Fruit is juicy with lots of areoles and short glochids (much like those of O. rufida and O. microdasys, but larger). Seeds are small, about 3 mm across. 

Some O. lubrica plants are strongly purplish in Arizona, especially when they are stressed or dormant. The plants may reach 40-70 cm tall and have a habit similar to that of O. microdasys. Overall, it is a more robust plant than O. microdasys. O. lubrica my make a low shrub to over 1-2 m wide.

See the original citation.

Dave Ferguson reports:

O. lubrica may have hybrid origins, and possibly the plants in Arizona are not related to the ones in eastern Mexico.  However, they all look related to one another. It is possible (but not at all demonstrated) that the plants in San Luis Potosi may be derived from O. cacanapa × O. microdasys.  In Coahuila they might be derived from O. cacanapa × O. rufida.  In Arizona they might be O. chlorotica santa-rita × O. microdasys.  These suppositions are not demonstrated and perhaps all 3 populations constitute a single species with a common origin. Also, if O. cacanapa or O. chlorotica santa-rita are proposed parental taxa, why is O. lubrica so small? 

In Mexico I have mostly seen the plants on rocky slopes east of, or in the eastern part of, the Chihuahuan Desert, usually not in stark desert conditions (in the same areas that O. cacanapa  favors).  In Mexico, I’ve never seen a plant with purplish coloring (other than a tiny hint around the areoles when it gets really cold, and only in some plants).  O. lubrica grows from at least as far north as the Monclova area and the Sierra de la Paila in Coahuila south into San Luis Potosi. There are never large colonies, just scattered individuals.

Griffiths, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 27(6): 26, 1914

Herbarium (submitted as O.  engelmannii); Herbarium (O. riparia-like)

What is Opuntia riparia?

Opuntia riparia is a prickly pear cactus that grows in low, wide thickets in southern AZ. It rarely reaches waist high, but occasional cactus stems may reach to 1 to 1.2 m tall. 

Details

O. riparia plants form open, hemispherical shrubs generally to 25-30 cm tall, occasionally some branches reach up higher. Plants may occur together to form thickets. Pads are often obovate, elongate or elliptical, averaging about 20 cm long. The dark areoles are noticeably large and white spines are present in most of them. There are 2 to 6(8) white spines per areole with one or two small ones that are deflexed. Spines may or may not darken at the base. Spines on this Opuntia are an 1 to 2 cm long, stout, thick, and noticeably angular in cross section. 

Flowers are a rich bright yellow. The style is white and the dark green stigma is large (up to 1 cm across when expanded). Ovaries and fruits may be somewhat to distinctly elongate, with ovaries usually turbinate and fruits usually ovoid. Fruits may sometimes be narrowed or tapered at the base.  The seeds are not large but are larger than those of O. engelmannii, a large prickly pear.

O. angustata and O. riparia are similar and may in fact represent the same taxon. O. riparia occurs further south than O. angustata (near Superior, Arizona and below). Read the original description of O.  riparia. 

Griffiths, Annual Report of the Missouri Botanical Garden 20: 93, 1909

Holotype; Isotype; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Painting (watercolor over photograph, Krieger and Griffith, 1915, Smithsonian Institution Archive); Photograph (D Griffiths, ca. 1910); Photograph (D Griffiths, ca. 1910); Photograph (Annual Report of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 20: 1909)

What is Opuntia arizonica?

Opuntia arizonica is a seldom-reported species of prickly pear cactus. It is not rare but is usually lumped into O. engelmannii as a spiny and small specimen and thus is an unnoticed Opuntia. It has been found near Congress, AZ in Tucson, AZ, in central NM, and in the greater El Paso region. 

Details

This prickly pear cactus resembles O. engelmannii but is spinier. Additionally this particular Opuntia is decidedly smaller than the large O. engelmannii. O. arizonica may be nearly prostrate or may ascend to 30-40 cm tall or a bit more. Plants my be 50 cm across, or they may sprawl to 1 m. Cladodes are typically 25-30 cm across and subcircular. Areoles become relatively large and even up to 8-11 mm in longest diameter on the edges of pads. They darken with age. Sometimes the tissue of an areole my proliferate creating a bump in the center. There are (2)3-4(6) stout spines per areole on this Opuntia; the longest may be 2.5 to 5 cm long. Glochids may be scattered throughout the areoles, but are most numerous in the upper portion.

Flowers are average in size and yellow. The fruit of this prickly pear is reported to be subglobose, but we have observed egg-shaped fruit. O. arizonica may be the same taxon as O. sp nova aff engelmannii. See the original citation. Ploidy is not known.

 

Rose, Contributions from the U. S. National Herbarium 12: 402, 1909

Holotype; Herbarium; Herbarium (O. toumeyi-like); Herbarium (O. toumeyi-like); Herbarium (O. toumeyi-like); Herbarium (O. toumeyi-like)

What is Opuntia toumeyi?

Opuntia toumeyi is a low but not prostrate, bushy prickly pear cactus with pads narrowed towards the base. The cactus may appear yellowish-green and has brownish-white or white spines.

Details

There are 1-4 spines but usually 1 or 2. There is often one central spine that is dominant and longer than all the other spines in an areole (sometimes it is missing on some pads but rarely all pads, and sometimes there is more than one). The dominant spine is porrect or semi-reflexed. Spination may seem similar to that in O. flavispina, but the spines are not true yellow, and the long spine is not reflexed so intensely. Also, O. toumeyi is lower and more spreading than O. flavispina, and glochids are red-brown or paler but not yellow. 

Flowers are bright yellow, sometimes with a bit of bronze or orange at the base. Flowers may change to orange or even reddish-orange on day two. The stigmas are green, and the filaments are yellow.

O. toumeyi patches may seem yellowish compared to other Opuntia species. It is lower and more spreading than O. flavispina. Mature cladodes are often 15-20 cm long. O. toumeyi grows in the gravelly foothills and mountains in southern Arizona and in Sonora, Mexico. See the original citation.

This Opuntia would make an excellent medium-sized garden plant. Its ultimate cold-hardiness is unknown. 

 

Rose, Contributions from the U.S. National Herbarium 12: 402, 1909

Holotype; Isotype; Isotype; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium

What is Opuntia blakeana?

Opuntia blakeana is a small, low, spreading, Sonoran Desert prickly pear cactus.

Details

The cladodes of O. blakeana are typically dark green but may have brown or purple coloration around the areoles. Plants rarely reach 60 cm and are often shorter from prostrate-ascending, spreading branches. Short erect branches rise from spreading branches. Old branches may trail on the ground. Cladodes are 1-1.5 cm and and longish obovate. The spines are short and light- or dark-brown, or they may be tan. Often there are 2-3 spines per areole. When present, the dark-brown spines create a handsome Opuntia. The flowers are yellow and often reddish in the center. The plants have limited similarity with O. camanchica, and the flowers and fruits are similar to those of O. phaeacantha.

This prickly pear occurs in the greater Tucson, AZ area and probably throughout southern AZ and adjacent northern Mexico. See the original original description.

(L.D. Benson) B.D. Parfitt, Systematic Botany 5(4): 416, 1980 [1981]

Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium

It is proposed that O. martiniana is related to O. chlorotica chlorotica

What is Opuntia martiniana?

Opuntia martiniana is a prickly pear cactus found sporadically on gravelly or rocky soils between 1200-1650 m ft in northwest Arizona and adjacent Nevada and California.

Details

O. martiniana cladodes are often circular or subcircular with long spines arising from the areoles. Cladodes are 9-16 cm across. The spines are pale yellow at the tips, changing to yellow and yellow-brown, and sometimes finally brown at the base. Overall the spines may appear golden or yellowish-brown. Most areoles have spines; typically there are 2 strong ones that are semi-vertical to the pad surface. Two or three lesser spines may be present but without such vertical presence.

Flowers are yellow and may have a style swollen at the midpoint. The pericarp is more slender than in O. curvospina. Areoles are few on the fruit. The ovary apex at anthesis is about 1.5 cm across. 

Parfitt (1980) reported that O. martiniana is superficially similar to O. curvospina but is distinguished by its style shape and other characters. For instance, O. martiniana is a shorter plant at about 60 cm. See a description by Parfitt. O. martiniana is tetraploid.

Read more below thumbnails.

Dave Ferguson writes:

We have not examined the type specimen for this species, but Benson seems to have used the name for different plants. The proper use of the name hinges on what the type specimen really is. Benson seems to have been redescribing Opuntia gilvescens, and most of his published photos are of that species (some of the color photos are of other species, likely all O. phaeacantha). None of Benson’s photos are of the plant that Pinkava and Parfitt called Opuntia martiniana. It seems odd that Benson would misinterpret his own species, but it’s possible. It seems that the type specimen should match his photos and should be O. gilvescens.

Pinkava considered the type specimen to be the same as yellow-spined, semi-erect plants that are most like O. azurea and/or O. macrocentra. Pinkava’s yellow-spined plant is found in the mountains of the Kingman area in Arizona and is very distinctive. Earle called the plant O. superbospina, but that name doesn’t fit either, for that plant is purported to be low-growing with very long spines. 

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