Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Opuntia drummondii
FAMILY
Cactaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Dune Prickly Pear at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
This little coastal cactus is inconspicuous and often becomes attached by its retrorsely barbed-spines to the pants or shoes of people walking through the dunes. It can inflict painful wounds, the spines not easily removed from flesh or clothing because of the retrorse barbs. O. drummondii is easily separated from other species in the eastern US by the production of very small cladodes with strongly retrorsely barbed spines; the cladodes easily disarticulate at the nodes and are often dispersed vegetatively forming clones of the parent plants, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH (APPARENTLY MISAPPLIED)
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Opuntia pusilla
FAMILY
Cactaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Opuntia drummondii
SYNONYMOUS WITH (APPARENTLY MISAPPLIED) Flora of North America
Opuntia pusilla
SYNONYMOUS WITH (APPARENTLY MISAPPLIED) Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Opuntia pusilla
SYNONYMOUS WITH (APPARENTLY MISAPPLIED) Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Opuntia pusilla
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 132-01-002:
Opuntia drummondii FAMILY Cactaceae
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Opuntia drummondii
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Opuntia tracyi
COMMON NAME:
Dune Prickly-pear, Dune Devil-joint, Devils-joint Cactus, Little Prickly-pear
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm0303e_16
March Beaufort County SC
Hunting Island State Park
Clusters of hairlike spines are scattered with or without sharp 2-4" spines, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
Steve Marlow snm080301_002
March Horry County SC
Myrtle Beach State Park
Stems segmented into loosely attached joints that readily become detached, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmopusilla_stjoe1
June Gulf County FL
Stem segments narrowly elliptic to linear, sometimes somewhat cylindric, per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm0309r_11
September Georgetown County SC
Huntington Beach State Park
Fruits green becoming red-purple at late maturity, barrel-shaped, spineless, per Flora of North America.
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmo_pusilla
Month Unknown
Inner tepals yellow throughout; filaments & anthers yellow; stigma lobes white, per Flora of North America.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Opuntia drummondii
FAMILY
Cactaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (APPARENTLY MISAPPLIED)
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Opuntia pusilla
FAMILY
Cactaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Opuntia drummondii
SYNONYMOUS WITH (APPARENTLY MISAPPLIED)
Flora of North America
Opuntia pusilla
SYNONYMOUS WITH (APPARENTLY MISAPPLIED)
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Opuntia pusilla
SYNONYMOUS WITH (APPARENTLY MISAPPLIED)
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Opuntia pusilla
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 132-01-002:
Opuntia drummondii
FAMILY
Cactaceae
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Opuntia drummondii
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Opuntia tracyi
987
Shrub
Perennial
Habitat: dunes on barrier islands, less commonly inland on river-associated sands and on granite outcrops, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Uncommon
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Cladodes armed with glochids (hair-like spines or short prickles) & spines
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Yellow
Radially symmetrical
Numerous tepals (usually)
Numerous stamens (usually)
Inferior ovary
Bisexual or sometimes functionally staminate
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Magenta
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p404
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p347
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p495
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p160
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p098
- Guide to the Plants of Granite Outcrops (Murdy & Carter, 2000) p67
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p080
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p141
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p222
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