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Opuntia This page is devoted to Opuntias, with some of the most beautiful flowers in the cactus world! The genus Opuntia, here, includes the padded types (prickly pears), the cylindrical types (chollas), and the club stemmed types (club chollas). Opuntias are an easy group of cacti to grow, and are the gift that keeps on giving. They grow in sections, any of which can be removed and rooted to start a new plant. We send unrooted cuttings and the difference in price reflects two things: one, the overall size of the cuttings and two, the rarity of that type. In some cases we may only have a few pads available for sale. The prices listed are for a single, unrooted pad. These are all being grown outside here in Tucson (26°F to 110°F), with just a few in protected areas. Any variation on this temperature tolerance will be mentioned with the particular species. Species List | |||
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Opuntia
acanthocarpa This southern Arizona species of cholla gets to 5 or 6 feet tall and normally not as wide. The flowers vary from yellow to red on this species. My clone is red. The name 'acanthocarpa' means 'spiny body', referring to the fruit. |
$4.00 | |
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Opuntia
aciculata Clumps to 3 feet tall and several feet wide, with yellow flowers. From southern Texas and northern Mexico. |
$5.00 | |
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Opuntia
basilaris Beaver tail cactus occurs in sandy soils of the Mohave and western parts of the Sonoran desert. It makes a low clump to several feet across with beautiful rose-pink flowers. |
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Opuntia
basilaris v. aurea This miniature form of the species makes small, low clumps, sometimes with runners. Pads are less than 2 inches long and about half as wide. Nice yellow flowers. |
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Opuntia
basilaris v. brachyclada This little beavertail lives on the edge of the desert in south-central California. The pads are less than 3 inches long and less than half as wide. The flower is cerise. |
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Opuntia basilaris X O.
violacea v. santa-rita This is a very vigorous, fast growing hybrid to about 2 feet tall and several feet across. Extremely floriferous. |
$4.00 | |
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Opuntia
cholla This tree-like cholla occurs throughout the Baja peninsula of Mexico. The flowers are pink. This species is probably damaged below the mid twenties. |
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Opuntia
erinacea This plant occurs in Mohave desert regions up to 7,500 ft., so is very cold tolerant (0°?). This low spreading species has pink flowers. |
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Opuntia
erinacea v. ursina The 'Grizzly Bear' cactus is aptly named. The plant makes a patch up to several feet across and can take a lot of sun and cold. |
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Opuntia
ficus-indica This spineless tree-type prickly pear can get over 15 feet tall in just a few years. It is commonly used in the southwest for 'nopales', which are the young, soft new pads, cooked and eaten. The large red fruits are also eaten. The flowers are yellow. |
$8.00 | |
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Opuntia
ficus-indica Clone 1 This clone of Burbank's spineless prickly pear has been selected for its desirable fruit characteristics. It produces large, sweet fruits. It does not get as large as the normal. The flowers are yellow. |
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Opuntia
grahamii This club cholla is a Chihuahuan species from southern New Mexico into Texas and northern Mexico. It is a mat-forming species to barely over 6 inches tall. The flowers are yellow. |
$3.00 | |
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Opuntia
horstii I don't have a clue where I got this name, as I cannot find it referenced anywhere, but I have had it for close to twenty years now. This plant is very similar to O. violacea v. macrocentra, but without the long central spines. |
$4.00 | |
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Opuntia
humifusa A creeping, small padded (2.5" by 1.5") prickly pear, this species forms small patches of pads with yellow flowers. If you live in virtually any state east of Arizona, save your money and take a trip to some native habitat and collect a few pads for yourself. My clone is from Arkansas and is probably cold tolerant to below zero. |
$3.00 | |
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Opuntia
invicta Native to central Baja, this club-cholla is usually about a foot tall and up to several feet across. It has yellow flowers. |
$6.00 | |
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Opuntia
leptocaulis Christmas cholla is so-named because the small, red fruits are abundant in winter. Native to the desert southwest, this species forms a shrub to several feet tall and across. The flowers are greenish-yellow. The name means thin-stemmed. |
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Opuntia
macrorhyza A widespread and variable species from the southwest into the midwest. Less than a foot tall and spreading, the roots are fleshy (macro=large, rhyza=root) and the flower is yellow. |
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Opuntia
marinae A small growing species to a foot tall and about as wide. Native only to an area of central to coastal Sonora, it is rarely offered. 2 to 3 inch diameter creamy flowers are borne terminally on the stem. The roots are tuberous. |
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Opuntia
molesta From central Baja California, this species is shrubby to several feet tall. The flower is yellow purple and the spines have a distinctive papery sheath. Uncommon in cultivation and cold sensitive in the low twenties. |
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Opuntia
phaeacantha This species is variable, but my clone is native to Tucson. It gets 2 to 3 feet tall and several feet across and has a large (3 inches), yellow flower. |
$4.00 | |
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Opuntia
polyacantha A clump forming prickly pear, this species is native across the west into Canada and is very cold tolerant. The flowers are yellow. |
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Opuntia
quimilo This tree-like species has central spines that can get to 5 inches long. It can get 10 feet tall and has orange-red flowers. From northern Argentina and Bolivia. |
$6.00 | |
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Opuntia
reflexispina A small clumping plant to about a foot tall and double that wide, this species is very localized from coastal Sonora, near Kino Bay. The flowers are borne on the ends of the stems and are yellow. Uncommon. |
$6.00 | |
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Opuntia
robusta As the name implies, this plant develops pads up to 18 inches in diameter and in the ground can get over ten feet tall, with beautiful yellow flowers. Native to the tropical deciduous forests central Mexico. |
$10.00 | |
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Opuntia
rosarica This species is a tree type Opuntia to over 6 feet tall. Flowers are yellow. Native to the west slope of the coastal mountains in northern Baja. Probably damaged at temperatures in the low 20's. |
$5.00 | |
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Opuntia
rufida From west Texas and northern Mexico, this small to medium sized clumping plant has nice yellow flowers. |
$4.00 | |
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Opuntia
stenopetala A low, creeping species, with strange, bright red flowers. Native to south-central Mexico. |
$10.00 | |
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Opuntia
sulfurea This species is a clump forming plant to one foot. Native to Argentina, it has sulfer-yellow flowers. |
$4.00 | |
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Opuntia
sulfurea A-Clone This is the best clone of this species that I have seen. The spines are significantly longer and the pads are much thicker than the normal type. It has a clear yellow flower. Together, these characteristics make this one of the most dramatic of all Opuntias. Native to Argentina, this clone is extremely slow growing, with only a few pads available for sale each year. |
$25.00 | |
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Opuntia
tomentosa Another tree type of prickly pear to over 10 feet tall. Red-orange flowers and no long spines, but some small glochids. The plant has a velvety texture (tomentose). I listed this incorrectly as O. velutina in the past. Native to southern Mexico and Guatemala. |
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Opuntia violacea v.
macrocentra 'Ed Bush Clone' Variety macrocentra of O. violacea is shrubby and spreading and has a yellow flower with a red center. This clone is extremely vigorous and floriferous. Ed Bush donated hundreds of plants of this clone to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum for our annual plant sales. This variety is native to SE Arizona to W Texas. |
$5.00 | |
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Opuntia
violacea v. macrocentra 'Long Spine Clone' This clone has much longer spines than normal, with beautiful yellow flowers with a reddish center. Native to SE Arizona to W Texas, this plant makes a low growing mound, 2 feet tall and several feet across. |
$6.00 | |
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Opuntia violacea v.
santa-rita This plant known as 'Purple Prickly Pear' shows these strong colors in the new growth and when the plant is stressed from heat, drought or cold. Tree-like in habit, it can get to six or more feet in height. It is native to southern Arizona and has large, yellow flowers. |
$5.00 | |
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Opuntia
wilcoxii Yellow flowers with deep green colored pads, this species forms clumps to 5 feet tall and somewhat wider. No long spines, so the pad has a smooth appearance, although it does have glochids. Distinctive looking plants. Native to coastal Mexico, from Jalisco to Sonora. |
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