Griffiths, Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 43(2): 92, 1916
Holotype; Isotype; Painting (Smithsonian Institution); Painting. NOTE: the holotype specimen is remarkable because it contains two different cladode types. Only the cladode on the left conforms to the original description of this Opuntia and plants found near the type locality. Also, the cladode on the left agrees with the isotype specimen. Therefore, we accept the pad on the left as the correct holotype. The pad on the right is unidentified but may be O. magenta or O. gomei, more southerly species.
O. anahuacensis is different from O. stricta, but they are both beach Opuntias.
O. anahuacensis is different from O. bentonii, but they are both beach Opuntias.
Original Citation
What is Opuntia anahuacensis?
Opuntia anahuacensis is a prickly pear cactus of sandy soils associated with the Gulf of Mexico, and this has earned it the name beach prickly pear or beach Opuntia. The plants are 30-60 cm tall, but multiple plants can form large horizontal, impenetrable thickets several meters across.
Details
The cladodes are about 10-15 cm wide and up to 25 cm long; they are obovate, and some have suggestions of a neck, so that some elliptical cladodes are reminiscent of elongate ping-pong paddles because of their almost stipitate neck and short round tips. Pads of this prickly pear can have spines or essentially no spines. But, there are usually no more than 1-2 spines per areole on this Opuntia. If there is a spine, it is often 2(3) cm long and porrect. If there is a second spine, it is shorter and deflexed. Spines are yellow when new but may fade to whitish.
If spines are present on the fruit, they are transient. The stigma is white. O. anahuacensis may co-occur with O. bentonii, but we have not observed that. The latter species is decidedly more spiny, has yellow stigmas, and visible veins between aeroles.
Opuntia anahuacensis is hexaploid.
Other Notes
We found this Opuntia near the saltwater in sandy areas on Galveston Island, Texas, and one location on Bolivar Peninsula, Texas. It grew on the sand dunes above the highest tide marks. It was originally described from Anahuac, TX. Another report places the plant in southwestern Louisiana. Additionally, a isolated, depauperate population of this prickly pear was found as much as 15 miles inland growing in deep, sandy soils along a freshwater, inland waterway. O. anahuacensis may occur along the many secluded miles of the south Texas Gulf Coast, but this is not documented by us. Overall then, it could be widespread.
O. anahuacensis may not be commonly noticed as a distinct Opuntia species. O. anahuacensis may be mistaken for O. stricta, which was reported along the upper Texas Gulf Coast (Pinkava, Flora of North America), but which has never been reported again. Some botanists have conflated O. dillenii with O. anahuacensis (Anderson, 2001). The two opuntias are different, and we have never observed either O. stricta or O. dillenii in Texas.
Though it is associated with beach areas, this prickly pear does well in gardens where it can form a large, wide plant if not kept in check. It may be cold-hardy to USDA hardiness zone 7, but it comes from an essentially frost-free environment immediatly along the coast.
Opuntia anahuacensis fruit
Opuntia anahuacensis fruit
Opuntia anahuacensis leaves
Opuntia anahuacensis with fruit
Opuntia anahuacensis, Bolivar Peninsula, TX
Opuntia anahuacensis, Bolivar Peninsula, TX
Opuntia anahuacensis, Bolivar Peninsula, TX
Opuntia anahuacensis, Bolivar Penninsula, TX
Opuntia anahuacensis, ca. 1910, D Griffiths
Opuntia anahuacensis, ca. 1910, D Griffiths
Opuntia anahuacensis, flower buds
Opuntia anahuacensis, fruit
Opuntia anahuacensis, fruit may be stipitate or not
Opuntia anahuacensis, Galveston Island, TX
Opuntia anahuacensis, Galveston, TX
Opuntia anahuacensis, Galveston, TX
Opuntia anahuacensis, Galveston, TX
Opuntia anahuacensis, Galveston, TX
Opuntia anahuacensis, Galveston, TX
Opuntia anahuacensis, garden plant
Opuntia anahuacensis, garden plant
Opuntia anahuacensis, garden plant
Opuntia anahuacensis, glochids on new growth
Opuntia anahuacensis, pericarpel/receptacle
Thank you. So far no email. Knowing of your site will be helpful.
Thanks for visiting.
Does to fruit taste different from San Antonio Rickey Pear?
Does to fruit taste different from San Antonio Prickly Pear?
Hi J.R.,
I don’t know about the fruit of O. anahuacensis. I’ve never tried to taste it. But, I can assure you it is very slimy when you cut into it.
Joe
I recently obtained cuttings of a similar looking prickly pear. The cuttings were roughly 10-12 in. tall and 5-7 in. wide. The areoles appear to be brown with large, painful glochids. It has about the same number of spines per nopal as O. anahuacensis, the spines are light yellow color. The base of nopals often appear to be a yellow color as well. The innards of the nopals have a bizarre and nauseating odor and are slimy as you described. The tuna are red and look just like O. anahuacensis. But the only thing preventing a match is that I obtained the cuttings in zone 6 in an unprotected area of Cincinnati. Are there any Opuntias that match this description?
Hello,
What is the basic difference between O. stricta and O. anahuacensis? In Greece there are many records of Opuntia humifusa, very few of O. Stricta and none of O. anahuacensis. I believe the three are much confused in my area.
Thank you