NameThatPlant.net: Opuntia stricta var. stricta

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Opuntia stricta var. stricta FAMILY Cactaceae Go to FSUS key

Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

Read more about Opuntia at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

(?) INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Opuntia stricta FAMILY Cactaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Opuntia stricta var. stricta

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America

Opuntia stricta

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)

Opuntia stricta

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Opuntia stricta var. stricta

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Opuntia stricta

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Opuntia tunoidea

COMMON NAME:
Coastal Prickly-pear, Shell Midden Prickly-pear, Erect Prickly-pear

To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Opuntia stricta var. stricta, Coastal Prickly-pear, Shell Midden Prickly-pear, Erect Prickly-pear

Keith Bradley kab_opuntia_stricta_00142

April Monroe County FL

Valhalla Rock Barren

Spines mostly 0-3 per areole & straight [vs. var. dillenii 0-11 & curved], per Weakley's Flora (2015).

Keith Bradley kab_opuntia_stricta_00168

April Monroe County FL

Inner tepals light yellow throughout; filaments, anthers style & stigma yellow, per Flora of North America.

Patrick D. McMillan pdmo_stricta

Month Unknown

Joints narrowly obovate, narrowly elliptic, or oblong, mostly 12-25(35)cm long, per Weakley's Flora.

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Opuntia stricta var. stricta FAMILY Cactaceae

(?) INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Opuntia stricta FAMILY Cactaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Opuntia stricta var. stricta

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America
Opuntia stricta

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Opuntia stricta

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Opuntia stricta var. stricta

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Opuntia stricta

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Opuntia tunoidea

2687

Shrub
Perennial

Habitat: Coastal dunes and coastal scrub, shell middens in salt marshes of the Gulf Coast, occasionally in water-logged saline soils of mangroves, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Rare

map
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:
Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall
Dark pinkish-purple
Berry

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

"Despite what developers will tell you about restoration, she said, once a piece of land is graded, the biologic organisms and understructure of the soil are destroyed. 'No one knows how to easily re-create that, short of years of hand-weeding. Leaving land alone doesn't work; the natives are overwhelmed by the invaders.' Spot bulldozing is common... even on land that is supposedly protected. 'Much of this destruction is done out of expediency and ignorance.' She believed people are unlikely to value what they cannot name." — Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods, quoting biologist Elaine Brooks

If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".

Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".