Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Caryophyllales > Cactaceae > Opuntia polyacantha > Opuntia polyacantha var. erinaceaOpuntia polyacantha var. erinacea (grizzlybear pricklypear; Mohave pricklypear cactus)Synonyms: Opuntia erinacea (homotypic); Opuntia erinacea var. erinacea; Opuntia erinacea var. paucispina; Opuntia hystricina bensonii; Opuntia hystricina var. bensonii; Opuntia polyacantha erinacea (homotypic); Opuntia xerocarpa Opuntia erinacea, Mojave prickly pear, is a species in the Cactaceae family, that is a distributed throughout the Mojave and Great Basin deserts. Opuntia erinacea is suspected to be an allopolyploid that resulted from hybridization between Opuntia diploursina and Opuntia basilaris. |
| Edible [1] | May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details. | | Flower Type [1] | Hermaphrodite | | Hazards [1] | The plant has numerous minutely barbed glochids (hairs) that are easily dislodged when the plant is touched and they then become stuck to the skin where they are difficult to see and remove. They can cause considerable discomfort; | | Leaf Type [1] | Evergreen | | Lifespan [1] | Perennial | | Pollinators [1] | Insects, Lepidoptera | | Usage [1] | The following notes are for O. ficus indica. They almost certainly also apply to this species;
A gum is obtained from the stem. It is used as a masticatory or can be mixed with oil to make candles; The juice of the boiled stem segments is very sticky. It is added to plaster, whitewash etc to make it adhere better to walls; |  | | Height [1] | 20 inches (0.5 m) | | Width [1] | 6.56 feet (2 m) |
View Plants For A Future Record : Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea |
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0
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