PORCUPINE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia hystricina)
LONG SPINED PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia macrocentra)
And now the borealis of desert color has passed us by in its rush to the coolness and stillness of the desert night, only to recuperate and renew its gay attire and appear in fresh array of hue and tint in the morrow’s pearly dawn. In ages long gone by, when worlds were in the making, with the swish of the eternal paintbrush the flowers received their colorings, and it is with awe and admiration we have greeted these colorful creations come forth at the touch of the Master Artist; for we find them only here in the land of the burning sun, where they are born to their lonely vigil under the sky and stars, but to live and thrive and to fade and die, only to reappear anon in eternal and varied expressions of the Infinite Mind of Nature. Thus to-day passes into to-morrow, when new fields are waiting to be painted on the glorious canvas of the desert, and so we must take our leave of gorgeous bloom and brilliant filigree alike, and hurry along as the setting sun traces a last fiery pattern across the flaming heavens.
The Prickly Pear Group or Nopals (Platopuntia)
How to identify and how they grow
These plants are large or small shrubs, consisting of several jointed stems, the flat platelike joints or branches pear-shaped, elongated, thorny, but not distinctly tubercled, the clumps of joints from one to six or more feet in height, and from two to ten or twelve feet across. Spicules, sometimes called glochidia, are always present. The plants always have scalelike leaves which soon fall off. The Prickly Pears, like the Cholla, have spines of but one kind and of many different sizes, but they are not fierce nor as dangerous as the thorns of the Cholla, and they are never sheathed. The flowers are symmetrical and very beautiful, among the most brilliant of all the gorgeous cactus bloom, large flaming orange or yellow blossoms, usually. They open in the forenoon and close in the late afternoon of the same day, generally, soon falling away from the young fruit. The latter is covered with tubercles and always has spicules, scales, and generally spines, is either fleshy or dry, and is edible, often purple, falling away soon after maturity.
How to grow
Plants grow readily from cuttings of one or two joints set a few inches deep in moist sandy soil and given enough water to keep the soil moist; the cut surfaces should be allowed to dry thoroughly before planting. If mature cuttings are used and planted in early spring, many species will blossom the same season. Plants can be grown also from seeds planted a half-inch deep in sandy soil out of doors or in flats, with part shade and watered enough to keep the soil moist but not wet; but these develop very slowly and remain a long time in the soil before they germinate. All species grow indoors or out, preferably in a southern exposure.