Classic blue cactus from the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Very low water, can handle high heat and winter cold if dry. Pink flowers. Loads of small glochids, very few spines. Will get 2 to 3 feet tall and spread 6 to 8 feet wide over time. Pads were used medicinally.
Soil
Opuntia basilaris v. caudata
Compact variety. Smaller pads than the species, often heart-shaped. Will stay as low as 1 foot tall, but will spread 4 feet wide.
Opuntia basilaris x santa-rita
Thin purple pads, red blooms; Glochids, no central spines. Low growing, sprawling
Opuntia cochenillifera
Nopalea cochenillifera
Prickly pear to 10′; low-spine, delicious edible pads
Opuntia elata
Ovate pads, orange flowers. Can reach 10ft tall, and wide.
Opuntia ellisiana
O. cacanapa “Ellisiana”
Big round pads, purple-edged in full sun. Large edible reddish purple fruit. Practically spineless, including minimal glochids.
Opuntia engelmanii v. linguiformis
O. linguiformis
Distinctive narrow ovate pads. Variable growth and spination; can be very spiny or low spine and can grow wide or tall. Large edible fruit. Shrubby w/many pads, will sprawl. Variable yellow to orange blooms.
Opuntia engelmannii
Large edible fruit. Shrubby w/many pads, will sprawl to 10ft. Variable yellow to orange blooms.
Opuntia ficus-indica
Has been cultivated for centuries, probably native to Mexico. Variable habit, generally low spine.
Fast growing prickly pear, tree-like to 10ft. Large quantity of bright red edible fruit.
Opuntia ficus-indica “Burbank Spineless”
Opuntia “Burbank Spineless” is a classic edible nopales cultivated by Luther Burbank in Santa Rosa. You can tour the house! Can grow 10 to 12 feet tall. Edible fruit.
Opuntia ficus-indica “Grandma Anita’s”
Opuntia “Grandma Anita’s” must have a pretty good story behind that name. And it does! Rikki brought it up to us from her family’s homestead in Central California before she left us to go start her own cactus farm. Her great-grandmother Anita cultivated these for years, a long time ago, for the delicious fruit and they’re still growing on the property. And then there’s the story about Anita and Zorro and the pickle barrel. But you’ll have to ask Rikki about that.
Opuntia fragilis
Small stems, elliptical to round, forming mats along the ground, often found in dry grasslands.
Opuntia humifusa
O. compressa
Low growing mats/clumps of small purple tinged pads, to 12″h. Has been used medicinally and as a dye. Can handle cold and snow, will flop over, laying flat on the ground. Small gold flowers, red fruit.
Opuntia lagunae
Shrubby prickly pear to 5′; large white spines with many yellow glochids
Opuntia littoralis
Shrubby to 3ft. high. Can spread wide, sprawling as it goes. Variable flowers.
Opuntia littoralis v. vaseyi
Shrubby to 3ft. high. Can spread wide, sprawling as it goes. Variety with rose flowers.
Opuntia macrocentra
Black spines, 4-8″ long, purple pads, low spreading, populations vary.
Opuntia microdasys
Dotted with tiny white glochids, mounding, small pads. 1-2ft. high.
Opuntia microdasys “Alba”
Dotted with tiny white glochids, mounding, small pads. 1-2ft. high.
Opuntia microdasys “Aurea”
Dotted with tiny glochids, mounding small pads to 3ft.
Opuntia microdasys fa. monstrose “Golden Swirl”
Dotted with tiny yellow glochids, mounding small pads are curved.
Opuntia microdasys v. rufida
Dotted with minute orange glochids, shrubby to 2ft. Can handle some shade. Keep away from walkways or other places people might brush against it. Glochids release easily with touch or wind.
Opuntia monacantha “Variegata”
O. “Maverick”
Naturally occurring variegated monstrose cactus. Tree form to 6ft, small pads harden to solid trunk.
Opuntia polyacantha
Fast growing to 2’h, prominent aureoles with 4 to 5 spines 2 to 4″ long. Variable flowers, yellow, orange and pink. Many cultivars named for the natural flower color variations.
Opuntia polyacantha “Peach”
Fast growing to 2ft high, prominent aureoles with 4 to 5 spines 2 to 4″ long. Peach flowers.
Opuntia polyacantha v. erinacea
Fast growing to 2’h; pink and yellow blooms; 4″l. spines
Opuntia pycnantha
Shrubby to 18″ high x 18″ wide. Oblong pads are very spiny, brown spines with yellow glochids. Can spread wide, sprawling as it goes. Variable flowers, red, orange and yellow in spring.
Opuntia quitensis
O. macbridei
Low shrub prickly pear from the low Andes, small red/orange blooms
Opuntia rhodantha “Grand Mesa Peach”
Sharp and spiny cactus, grows low, spreads wide, but topped with soft pink flowers in spring.
Opuntia robusta
Tall, fast growing blue prickly pear with large round spiny pads and round red fruit. Can grow tree-like to 10ft. tall.