Illinois Natural History Survey - University of Illinois

Opuntia humifusa
Prickly-pear
Taxonomy

Synonyms: Opuntia compressa, Opuntia humifusa var. humifusa

Subspecific taxa:

Classification:

  • Magnoliophyta

Other taxonomic & nomenclature sources: USDA Plants;  ITIS;  The Plant List;  IPNI

Images

   
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Species Distribution
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More about map & occurrence records

County Map Legend
Absent:
Not known from county
Medium confidence:
Medium or unknown confidence;
often old records or unverifiable observations
Medium-high confidence:
Often observations by expert botanists
High confidence:
Often vouchered herbarium records
Planted / introduced:
Native species introduced outside historic range,
or only in planted locations within county (e.g., restorations)
Historic / extirpated:
Only historic records for the species; likely extirpated
(Note that this category is not yet functional)

North American distribution maps for this species: FLNA;  USDA Plants;  BONAP;  BISON

Collections, Observations & Flowering by Month [?]

J
0
F
0
M
0
A
0
M
0
J
0
J
0
A
0
S
0
O
0
N
0
D
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Collections & Observations by Decade [?]

Species Status

Status/Listing: No Information

Notes:

Origin: Native

Species Description

General: Dicot-herb, perennial

Roots: adventitious, fibrous

Shoots: simple leaf type; hastate leaf shape

Inflorescence: solitary

Flowers: perfect; complete, regular; yellow; epigynous ovary position

Fruit: berry

Physiology: autotrophic; CAM C02 fixation

Reproduction: sexual, vegetative

Ecology & Natural History

Habitat: Species is distributed in sandy black oak woods, sand blowouts, old mowed sandy cemeteries, rocky prairies, sandy and gravelly washes of valleys along streams.

ILPIN Notes: Fruit is edible; also stem is edible after roasting. Leaves are scale-like; quickly deciduous, stem strongly flattened. This species may not be an economic weed in our area. Szarek, S. R., and I. P. Ting. 1977. The occurrence of crassulacean acid metabolism among plants. Photosynthetica 11: 330-342.

Functional Relationships:

  • Pollinators:
  • Dispersal:
  • Mycorrhizae:
  • N2 fixation:

Human Relationships:

  • Edibility [?] :
  • Showy Flowers: high

Wildlife and Livestock Information:

  • Food Value:
  • Cover Value:

Coefficient of Conservatism (C-value) [?] :

  • Entire State: 5
  • Chicago Area: 5

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