Opuntia gosseliniana
Violet pricklypear
Family CactaceaeAlso called Violet prickly-pear
About
The violet prickly pear is a cactus of Mexico and southern Arizona whose flat pads carry a violet, pink or red tinge.
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
- Mature size
- About 0.3–1.5 m (1–5 ft) tall.
“General guidance for the genus” marks advice sourced for the genus as a whole rather than this species.
Field notes
Morphology
Flat pads tinged violet, pink or red, unlike most prickly pears. Plants reach about 0.3–1.5 m tall and flower yellow or red.
Distribution & habitat
Best known from Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Sonora) and also reported from Pima County, Arizona.
History & etymology
Authorities disagree on how to split it from O. chlorotica, O. violacea, O. macrocentra and others, and natural hybrids are common.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- Mexico, United States
- IUCN status
- Least concern
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- easy
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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