Opuntia polyacantha

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Ordo: Caryophyllales

Familia: Cactaceae
Subfamilia: Opuntioideae
Tribus: Opuntieae
Genus: Opuntia
Series: O. ser. Xerocarpeae
Species: Opuntia polyacantha
Varieties: O. p. var. erinacea – O. p. var. hystricina – O. p. var. nicholii – O. p. var. polyacantha
Name

Opuntia polyacantha Haw., Suppl. Pl. Succ.: 82. (1819)
Synonyms

Replaced synonym
Cactus ferox Nutt., Gen. N. Amer. Pl.: 296. (1818)
Homotypic
Tunas polyacantha (Haw.) Nieuwl. & Lunell in Amer. Midl. Naturalist 4: 479. (1916)
Heterotypic
Opuntia media Haw., Suppl. Pl. Succ.: 82. (1819)
Opuntia splendens Pfeiff., Enum. Diagn. Cact.: 159. (1837)
Opuntia rutila Nutt. in Fl. N. Amer. 1: 555. (1840)
Opuntia missouriensis var. elongata Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck., ed. 1844: 46. 1845 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia missouriensis var. microsperma Engelm. in Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 3: 300. 1856 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia missouriensis var. rufispina Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow in Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 3: 300. 1856 syn. sec. Tropicos
Opuntia polyacantha var. rufispina (Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow) L.D.Benson, Cacti Ariz., ed. 3: 20. 1969 syn. sec. Parfitt & Gibson 2003
Opuntia missouriensis var. subinermis Engelm. in Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 3: 300. 1856 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia sphaerocarpa var. utahensis Engelm. in Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis 11: 199. 1863 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia erinacea var. utahensis (Engelm.) L.D.Benson, Cacti Ariz., ed. 3: 20. 1969 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia polyacantha var. utahensis (Engelm.) Bulot syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia spirocentra Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow ex Haage, Verz. Cact.: 30. 1864 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia polyacantha var. borealis J.M.Coult. in Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 3: 436. 1896 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia polyacantha subsp. borealis (J.M.Coult.) Piper & Beattie, Fl. N.W. Coast: 244. 1915 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia polyacantha var. watsonii J.M.Coult. in Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 3: 437. 1896 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia schweriniana K.Schum. in Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 9: 148. 1899 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia polyacantha var. schweriniana (K.Schum.) Backeb., Cactaceae 1: 607. 1958 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia barbata K.Brandegee ex J.A.Purpus in Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 97. 1900 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia barbata var. gracillima K.Brandegee ex J.A.Purpus in Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 110. 1900 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia utahensis J.A.Purpus in Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 133. 1909 syn. sec. Hunt 2016
Opuntia polyacantha var. erythrostema J.A.Purpus in Mitt. Deutsch. Dendrol. Ges. 34: 63. 1925 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia polyacantha var. salmonea J.A.Purpus in Mitt. Deutsch. Dendrol. Ges. 34: 63. 1925 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia polyacantha var. spirocentra J.A.Purpus in Mitt. Deutsch. Dendrol. Ges. 34: 63. 1925 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia polyacantha var. subinermis J.A.Purpus in Mitt. Deutsch. Dendrol. Ges. 34: 62. 1925 syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)
Opuntia arrastradillo Backeb. in Cactus (Paris) 36: 181. 1953 syn. sec. Hunt 2016
Opuntia missouriensis var. salmonea Späth ex J.A.Purpus in Mitt. Deutsch. Dendrol. Ges. 34: 63. 1925, nom. inval., syn. sec. Kew WCVP (2019)

References

Haworth, A.H. 1819. Supplementum Plantarum Succulentarum ... 82.
Korotkova, N. et al. 2021. Opuntia polyacantha in Cactaceae at Caryophyllales.org. A global synthesis of species diversity in the angiosperm order Caryophyllales. Published online. Accessed: 2021 Nov. 29. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2021. Opuntia polyacantha. Published online. Accessed: Nov. 29 2021.
Shaw, J.J. & al. (ed.) 2015. Opuntia Web. Published online. Accessed: 2015 Apr 25.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Opuntia polyacantha in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 08-Apr-12.
Tropicos.org 2021. Opuntia polyacantha. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 29 Nov. 2021.

Vernacular names
English: Starvation Pricklypear

Opuntia polyacantha is a common species of cactus known by the common names plains pricklypear,[2][3] starvation pricklypear,.[4] and hairspine cactus,[2] panhandle pricklypear.[5] It is native to North America, where it is widespread in Western Canada, the Great Plains, the central and Western United States, and Chihuahua in northern Mexico.[5][4] In 2018, a disjunct population was discovered in the Thousand Islands region of Ontario, Canada.[6]

Habitat

This cactus grows in a wide variety of habitat types, including sagebrush, Ponderosa pine forest, prairie, savanna, shrublands, shrubsteppe, chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodland, and scrub.[2] Individual plants tend to thrive in sandy soil. A new plant can grow from a displaced stem segment.[7]
Description

Opuntia polyacantha grows up to 10–30 centimetres (4–12 in) tall. It forms low mats of pads which may be 2–3 m (6+1⁄2–9+7⁄8 ft) wide.[2] Its succulent green pads are oval or circular and reach 27 by 18 cm (10+5⁄8 by 7+1⁄8 in) wide. Its areoles are tipped with woolly brown fibers and glochids. Many of the areoles have spines which are quite variable in size and shape. They may be 0.4 to 18.5 cm (1⁄8 to 7+1⁄4 in) in length, stout or thin, straight or curling, and any of a variety of colors.

Flowers grow from spine-covered stem segments which are shaped like semi-flattened pears.[7] The flowers are 2.5 to 4 cm (1 to 1+5⁄8 in) long and may be yellow, magenta,[4] or red in color (tending to turn pink or orange with age).[7] The fruit is cylindrical, brownish, dry and spiny.[4] The cactus reproduces by seed, by layering, and by resprouting from detached segments.[2] In its natural range it survives throughout an immense range of temperatures, ranging from −46 °C (−50 °F) in the Yukon Territory, Canada,[8] to well above 38 °C (100 °F) in places like Chihuahua, Mexico.

There are many expressions of O. polyacantha and variation is common. Multiple varieties have been proposed. Some are accepted by modern authorities and some require further study.[9]
Uses

Native Americans used it as a medicinal plant, with different parts treating various symptoms.[10]

This pricklypear provides food for many types of animals. It provides over half the winter food for the black-tailed prairie dog in one area. Pronghorn antelope eat it, especially after the spines are burned off in wildfires. Ranchers intentionally burn stands of the plant to make it palatable for livestock when little other food is available. It will also grow in waste areas where good forage will not take hold. In fact, an abundance of the cactus indicates land that is poor in quality.[2]

Several insects attack the cactus, including the cactus moth Melitara dentata, the blue cactus borer Olycella subumbrella, and the cactus bug Chelinidea vittiger.[2]

O. polyacantha provided the Lewis and Clark Expedition with opportunity for admiration and more often complaint about the plant.[11]

With the skin and seeds removed, the fruit can be eaten raw or made into candy.[12]
References

Heil, K., Terry, M. & Corral-Díaz, R. 2017. Opuntia polyacantha (amended version of 2013 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T151747A121565302. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T151747A121565302.en. Downloaded on 16 September 2021.
Johnson, K. A. 2000. Opuntia polyacantha. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Retrieved May 11, 2011.
Opuntia polyacantha. USDA Plants Profile. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
Opuntia polyacantha. Flora of North America. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
Opuntia polyacantha. The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
Stephen, Derek (February 2021). "Plains Pricklypear (Variety Opuntia polyacantha polyacantha)". iNaturalist Canada. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 38. ISBN 0-87842-280-3. OCLC 25708726.
Linn, Alan (September–October 1972). "What Can You Expect from the World's Greatest Misers?". International Wildlife. 2 (5): 36–38.
"Opuntia polyacantha at Opuntia Web". January 24, 2012.
University of Michigan - Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany (Opuntia polyacantha)
"Prickly Pear | Discovering Lewis & Clark ®". April 19, 2021.
Niering, William A.; Olmstead, Nancy C. (1985) [1979]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region. Knopf. p. 437. ISBN 0-394-50432-1.