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Prickly Pear

Opuntia sp

Published on Project Noah
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33.0655, -117.066

Field Notes

Description:

Thin, round cactus. This is native to California.

Habitat:

Along Mule Hill trail near Lake Hodges.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (6)
Ava T-B
It certainly could be. You might want to make a trip to the San Diego Botanical Garden. Unfortunately I think you have to pay as you enter the parking lot, but right there they have a LOT of opuntia with name tags. Or, for free, you could come down to Balboa Park and walk through the cactus garden at Park and Zoo Place.
CindyBinghamKeiser
Yes we do have a lot of nursery plants gone wild here :) What do you think about O. engelmannii (Cactus Apple)? I may have to go back when it flowers to know for sure.
Ava T-B
Right, I think the Durango opuntia is here because of the nursery trade. I've only seen it (I think) in gardens or landscaping. Things can escape of course. If the pads on your spotting aren't really round round, then it's something else.
CindyBinghamKeiser
Hi Ava, I agree with Opuntia. According to Calflora, we don't have Opuntia durangensis growing wild here. If your spotting was a "wild" plant, you may want to submit it to that site so they can update it. I'll start digging into Opuntia this weekend. Thank you!
Ava T-B
It's some species of prickly-pear opuntia. If they are really round pads, it might be this: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/7329208

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Southern California Wildlife
Mission
California's Native Plants

Tags

Photographed
PublishedDecember 14, 2011

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