Opuntia macrocentra
Purple pricklypear
Family CactaceaeAlso called Black-spined pricklypear, Long-spined purplish prickly pear, Redeye prickly pear
About
Purple prickly pear is a cactus of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, notable for stems that turn purple. It bears large yellow flowers with red centres and edible dark red fruit.
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
- Growth rate
- Slow.
- Mature size
- Usually 30–60 cm tall, occasionally 1 m.
“General guidance for the genus” marks advice sourced for the genus as a whole rather than this species.
Field notes
Morphology
An upright, spreading shrub usually 30–60 cm tall, occasionally 1 m. Stems are blue-grey, blue-green or purplish, the purple strongest at pad edges and around areoles. The colour is a betacyanin pigment that deepens under drought or cold.
Distribution & habitat
Arizona, New Mexico and southwestern Texas in the US, and northwestern Mexico, below about 1,500 m on sandy flats, rocky hills and valley grasslands.
Cultivation notes
Grown for its stem and flower colour in drought-tolerant and native gardens and as a pot plant. A slow-growing perennial.
Conservation
Collection of the plant and its fruit is restricted in some areas.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- United States, Mexico
- IUCN status
- Least concern
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- easy
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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