Plains Prickly Pear, Starvation Cactus, Hair-spine Cactus,Opuntia polyacantha,Cactus Family (Cactaceae)

Found in dry areas, sand, rocky slopes
Seen blooming in June by Hwy 554 east of El Rito

​Another species well adapted to our dry environment and cold winters is the Plains Prickly Pear, the most widespread cactus in the US. It grows very close to the ground with spreading stems forming untidy mats. It has relatively small circular pads, two to six inches across, with many spines pointing in all directions. It has large, fixed spines and small, hairlike spines called glochids that easily detach from the plant to penetrate skin and cause irritation. The showy, bright flowers can be up to three inches across and are most commonly lemony-yellow, but can also be bright pink or pale orange. The fruit is dry and covered with barbed spines, not fleshy and juicy like many other prickly pears. The common name of Starvation Cactus comes from the Native American use of the cactus pads for food during times of famine because they could be harvested even during the winter and early spring when few other foods were available. They also burned the spines off to provide forage for livestock. The fruit was eaten raw, dried, or cooked. Fruit was singed with hot coals to remove spines, then split and dried in the sun and stored for winter use. Ripe fruits were used for dye. The spines were used as fish hooks and the seeds were made into beads. Source.

If you trying to identify a different flower then you can check what other flowers bloom this month. If you cannot identify a flower from the website, send a photo and where you took it to [email protected]. Read online for tips.  ​
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