Opuntia santa-rita

Common Name: Purple Prickly Pear Cactus, Santa Rita Prickly Pear
Oˊodham Name: [unknown]
Group: Cacti － Desert (upper), Desert Grassland

Description

Opuntia santa-rita is the "Purple Prickly Pear" cactus growing in sandy and gravelly soils from below 3000 ft to 4000 ft in the upper Sonoran Desert and desert grassland. The pads become red or purple in times of stress like winter or summer drought. Brilliant yellow flowers contrast strongly with the strongly colored pads. A synonym is Opuntia violaceae var. santa-rita. Also see Opuntia engelmannii and Opuntia chlorotica.

Classification

Kingdom Plantae － Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta － Vascular plants

Superdivision Spermatophyta － Seed plants

Division Magnoliophyta － Flowering plants

Class Magnoliopsida － Dicotyledons

Subclass Caryophyllidae

Order Caryophyllales

Family Cactaceae － Cactus family

Genus Opuntia Mill. － pricklypear

Species Opuntia santa-rita (Griffiths & Hare) Rose － Santa Rita pricklypear

More Information

USDA Plant Profile and Map