Prickly Pear Flower
This is the flower of the tiny little mini-prickly pear we had been calling Opuntia picardoi but that was a mistake. Turns out a group of small prostrate Opuntoiods from South America are called Tunilla instead.
Tunilla erectoclada
Since O. picardoi is an accepted synonym, should we change the name now that we know?
Regardless of what it’s called, it’s from Argentina, and the pads get only at most about 2″ across. The flowers vary from very red to slightly orange. The spines are profuse, and very sharp. This is a very dangerous plant for it’s size. It makes a good groundcover and does well in mixed pots with other mini cactus.