(Spineless pricklypear, Tigertongue)

This handsome, shrubby, wide-spreading pricklypear resembles Opuntia ficus-indica - but without the spines. A presumed native of Mexico, it is known only in cultivation in the United States. The oval, blue-green, paddle-shaped stem segments are dotted with spirally arranged areoles. Although the areoles lack spines, they are well armed with glochids (barbed hair-like bristles) that readily penetrate skin or clothing. Large, cup-shaped, deep yellow flowers appear on the outermost stem segments...

(Cactus Apple)

Few cacti show as much variability as this prickly pear. At least four forms are botanically recognized. The most prominent form, linguiformis, is commonly called cow’s tongue and named for its narrow oval pads that look tongue-like. The species is native to much of the South Central and Southwest United States and northern Mexico where it can be found growing in deserts and dry grasslands.

The size and shape of the pads (which resemble large succulent leaves but are in fact swollen...

(Texas Cactus Apple)

Few cacti show greater variability than Opuntia engelmannii, of which at least four forms are botanically recognized. A large, upright, spreading plant with round, flattened, spiny pads, variety lindheimeri is native from the south-central and southwestern United States into northern Mexico. It is naturalized in South Africa, where it is considered an noxious weed. The pads (which resemble large succulent leaves but in fact are swollen stem segments) are sometimes broader than long,and...

(Cactus Apple)

Few cacti show greater variability than Opuntia engelmannii, of which at least four forms are botanically recognized. A large, upright, spreading plant dubbed cow’s tongue for its narrowly oval pads, variety linguiformis is thought to be native to central Texas, although it is widely planted and naturalized in the south-central and southwestern United States. The pads (which resemble large succulent leaves but in fact are swollen stem segments) sometimes measure more than a meter...

(Barbary Fig, Pricklypear, Tuna Cactus)

The source of the supermarket prickly pear, this cactus bears strikingly beautiful bowl-shaped flowers and vivid red-purple fruit atop tall stems with round paddle-like segments. Plants grow to the size of a small tree or large shrub, usually with a woody "trunk." A long-cultivated plant that probably derives from one or more Mexican Opuntia species, Indian fig has naturalized in many other parts of the world including California, where it was introduced to missions as a living fence and...

(Purple Prickleypear)

Exceptional color and a smaller more adaptable size make this great little prickly pear a year-round feast for the eyes. The relatively small, pale green, purple-tipped pads (which resemble large succulent leaves but in fact are modified stems) turn a showy purple under stressful conditions such as cold and heat. In addition, they are formidably but beautifully armed with long black white-tipped spines. Adding to its beauty are its bright yellow, red-centered flowers, which are profusely borne in...

(Angel's Wings, Bunny Ears Pricklypear)

With its downy pads and tufts of whiskery hair-like bristles, this shrubby pricklypear looks soft to the touch - but beware! Its bristles (known as glochids) become painfully embedded in the skin at the slightest contact. A native of desert areas of north-central Mexico, it typically grows on hills or ridges in sandy or loamy, alkaline soil. It has naturalized in parts of Arizona.

The golden yellow glochids occur in conspicuous, spirally arranged clusters on the flattened, circular or oval...

(Angel's Wings)

With its downy pads and tufts of whiskery hair-like bristles, this contorted form of bunny ears pricklypear looks soft to the touch - but beware! Its bristles (known as glochids) become painfully embedded in the skin at the slightest contact. Opuntia microdasys is native to desert areas of north-central Mexico, where it typically grows on hills or ridges in sandy or loamy, alkaline soil.

The golden yellow glochids occur in conspicuous, spirally arranged clusters on the circular or...

(Angel's Wings, Bunny Ears Pricklypear)

A lack of long conspicuous spines make this smaller prickly pear look soft and safe, but it wields many tiny hairlike bristles called glochids that are ferociously painful to the touch.

Bunny ears pricklypear is native to hills and ridges in the Chihuahua Desert of north-central Mexico. There, it typically grows in sandy or loamy, alkaline soil. This cactus has pads of soft green dotted with puffy clusters of white glochids. Although superficially resembling leaves (and treated as such in the...

(Tulip Pricklypear)

This low-growing, spreading, relatively cold- and moisture-tolerant pricklypear cactus is native from Mexico to the Southwest and south-central United States. It may have been introduced to parts of this range by Native Americans who valued its fruit for both medicine and paint. This may also explain the dramatic diversity within this species, with 15 or more varieties described.

This cactus forms dense clumps of large pads (which are not leaves but rather modified stem segments) dotted with...