Opuntia strigil, Texas prickly pear cactus, spines

Engelmann, Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 3: 290, 1856

Isolectotype; Isolectotype; Isolectotype; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium; Herbarium

Original Description

What is Opuntia strigil?

Opuntia strigil is a pricklypear cactus in west Texas, mostly west of the Pecos River and apparently not entering NM. This Opuntia grows on limestone hills from 2500 to 4500 ft, but also on creosote flats in the Texas trans-Pecos area.

Details

The plants are distinctive in habit, forming sturdy shrubs to nearly 1 m tall and perhaps as wide, composed of sucircular cladodes. There are 5-8(10) spines per areole, with many deflexed but some nearly erect. Centrals on this Opuntia may be 1 to 3 cm long.

Flowers are cream-yellow, but tepals may be orangish in the backside midveins. The anthers are pale. The style is pale cream, and stigma lobes are greenish-yellow. Fruits are red and nearly spherical.

Opuntia strigil has been reported to be tetraploid or hexaploid. Perhaps the differing counts represent two different taxa.

Other Notes

The Flora of North America online reports, “Opuntia strigil is reminiscent of a [small] brown-spined form of O. chlorotica chlorotica,” but that is not our experience.

O. strigil is a handsome garden plant, though it may become large in time.