Other common names
beavertail prickly pear
Plant type
Cacti
Scientific Family
Cactaceae
Plant Description
Origin
Native
Typically branches from the base and remains low. Grows in clumps. Pads resemble a beaver's tail. Occurs on desert plains, dry
mountain slopes and in washes.
Height
2 feet
Width
6 feet
Habitat
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
200
High elevation
6000
Flowers
Flower color
Pink to magenta
First bloom month
March
Last bloom month
June
3 inches wide. Clusters along the upper end of the pad for 3 to 4 weeks.
Stems
Stem Color
Grayish-Green
Segmented Stems
No
Stems are flat jointed pads 1 foot long to 6 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Pads are oval in shape. New pads grow from the bases of
older pads.
Areoles
These are structures unique to cacti, found on the stems, areas from which spines, flowers and fruits emerge.
Spine color
Reddish-brown
Spines hooked
No
Glochids
No
Spineless but do have reddish-brown glochids, tiny hair-like spines, to 1/8 inch long dotted on pads and fruits.
Fruit
Fruit color
Grayish
Oval fruit to 1 inch long. Sparsely covered with glochids. Dry at maturity. Dry fruits contain very large seeds.