Opuntia erinacea
Mojave prickly pear
Family CactaceaeAlso called Grizzly bear pricklypear
About
The Mojave prickly pear is a cactus of the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin in the United States. It was formerly treated as a variety of Opuntia polyacantha.
Care at a glance
- Pet safety
- Listed as non-toxic to dogs, cats and horses, but spines and glochids cause injury. General guidance for the genus
- People
- Barbed glochids lodge in skin and irritate; wear gloves when handling. General guidance for the genus
- Light
- Full sun (6+ hours of direct sun); high light indoors. General guidance for the genus
- Water
- Very drought tolerant; avoid soggy soil, which causes root rot. General guidance for the genus
- Soil
- Well-drained sandy or loamy soil; cactus mix in pots. General guidance for the genus
- Propagation
- A single detached pad roots readily to form a new plant. General guidance for the genus
“General guidance for the genus” marks advice sourced for the genus as a whole rather than this species.
Field notes
Distribution & habitat
Throughout the Mojave Desert and into the southern Great Basin deserts of the United States.
History & etymology
A.D. Stock proposed that it arose as an allopolyploid hybrid of Opuntia diploursina and Opuntia basilaris, though it also shows strong links to other varieties of O. polyacantha.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- United States
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- easy
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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