Opuntia engelmannii

Opuntia engelmannii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Genus:	Opuntia
Species:	O. engelmannii
Binomial name
Opuntia engelmannii Salm-Dyck ex Engelmann
Synonyms
Opuntia engelmanni (a common lapsus)

Further information: Opuntia phaecantha

Opuntia engelmannii is a prickly pear common across the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It goes by a variety of common names, including "cow's tongue cactus", "cow tongue prickly pear", "desert prickly pear", "discus prickly pear", "Engelmann's prickly pear", and "Texas prickly pear" in the US, and "nopal", "abrojo", "joconostle", and "vela de coyote" in Mexico.

Description

Opuntia engelmannii var. lindheimeri

The Opuntia engelmannii overall form is generally shrubby, with dense clumps up to 3.5 m high, usually with no apparent trunk. The pads are green (rarely blue-green), obovate to round, about 15-30 cm long and 12-20 cm wide. The glochids are yellow initially, then brown with age. Spines are extremely variable, with anywhere from 1-8 per areole, and often absent from lower areoles; they are yellow to white, slightly flattened, and 1-6 cm long. The flowers are yellow, occasionally reddish, 5-8 cm in diameter and about as long. The purple fleshy fruits are 3-7 cm long.

Distribution

Fruites of the opuntia engelmannii

The Opuntia engelmannii range extends from California to Louisiana in the US, and Baja California to the Tamaulipan matorral in Chihuahua in Mexico. Flowering is in April and May, with each bloom lasting only one day, opening at about 8AM and closing 8 hours later. Pollinators include solitary bees, such as the Antophoridae, and sap beetles.

In the Sonoran Desert, terminal pads face predominantly east-west, so as to maximize the absorption of solar radiation during summer rains. Although found occasionally in the Mojave Desert, it tends to be replaced by Opuntia basilaris, which does not need the summer rain.

The nomenclatural history of this species is somewhat complicated due to the varieties, as well as its habit of hybridizing with Opuntia phaeacantha.

Uses

The fruits were a reliable summer food for Native American tribes. The Tohono O'odham in particular classified the fruits by color, time of ripening, and how well they kept in storage.

References

• Edward F. Anderson, The Cactus Family (Timber Press, 2001), pp. 497-498
• Raymond M. Turner, Janice E. Bowers, and Tony L. Burgess, Sonoran Desert Plants: an Ecological Atlas (Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1995) pp. 291-293

External links

• Opuntia engelmannii Salm-Dyck ex Engelm. var. lindheimeri (Engelm.) Parfitt & Pinkava. Texas Pricklypear. USDA Plants Database - Opuntia engelmannii