Opuntia aciculata Griffiths
  • in Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 29(3): 10–11. 1916.
  • Cowboy’s red whiskers


Cite taxon page as 'WFO (2023): Opuntia aciculata Griffiths. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000386662. Accessed on: 01 Jun 2023'

General Information

Shrubs, spreading, to 1.2 m. Stem segments not disarticulating, deep green, flattened, subcircular to obovate, 13-20 × 8-10 cm, nearly smooth, glabrous; areoles 5-7 per diagonal row across midstem segment, subcircular, 4-5 mm diam.; wool brown, long. Spines commonly absent or evenly distributed with 1-3(-8) per areole, deflexed, yellow or brown, tipped yellow or mottled brown, straight, acicular, the longest to 50 mm. Glochids widely and evenly spaced, conspicuous, radiating like star or pincushion, pale to deep red-brown, sometimes tipped yellow, 3-8 mm. Flowers: inner tepals yellow, orange, or deep red (rarely magenta), to 30 mm; anthers yellow; filaments and style usually cream to pink; stigma lobes dark green. Fruits purplish red, ovoid to pyriform, 30-38 × 17-25 mm, juicy, glabrous, spineless; areoles 24-26. Seeds subcircular, 3-3.5 mm diam.; girdle size unknown. 2n = 44.

  • Provided by: [B].Flora of North America @ efloras.org
    • Source: [
    • 1
    • ]. 

    Other Local Names

    NameLanguageCountry
    Cowboy’s red whiskers

      Taxonomic Status Reference

    • 1 Parfitt, B.D. & Gibson, A.C. 2003: Cactaceae. Pp. in ?in-author Flora of North America. : .

     Information From

    Caryophyllales
    https://caryophyllales.org/
    Caryophyllales. World Flora Online Data. 2022.
    • A CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0).
    Flora of North America @ efloras.org
    http://www.efloras.org/flora_page.aspx?flora_id=1
    'Flora of North America @ eFloras (2008). Published on the Internet http://www.efloras.org/flora_page.aspx?flora_id=1 [accessed August 2016]' Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
    • B Flora of North America Association
    World Flora Online Consortium
    http://www.worldfloraonline.org/organisation/WFO
    World Flora Online Data. 2017.
    • C CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0).