Index / Search / Opuntia polyacantha
§1 Plant
Opuntia polyacantha Haw.
vernacular plains pricklypear — species · Cactaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Shrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Dicot
- Family
- Cactaceae Juss.
- Genus
- Opuntia
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b
County-level range
· 150 counties across 10 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- High
- Shade
- High
- Moisture use
- Low
- Fire
- None
- Salinity
- None
- Anaerobic
- None
- CaCO₃
- High
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -28 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 200 min.
- Precipitation
- 10–20 in/yr
- pH range
- 7–8.8
- Root depth
- 12 in min.
- Fertility need
- Low
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium, fine
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Stoloniferous
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Mature height
- 2 ft
- Height @ 20 y
- 2 ft
- Foliage texture
- Coarse
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Porous
- Porosity (winter)
- Porous
- Flower colour
- Yellow
- Fruit colour
- Red
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Seed abundance
- High
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Fall
- Spread rate
- Rapid
- Stratify
- No
- Seeds / lb
- 145,000
- Propagation
- seed, cuttings, bare root, container
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Contracting Only
- Nursery stock
- No
- Browse palatability
- Low
- Graze palatability
- Low
- Palatable, human
- Yes
- Protein potential
- Medium
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 150 counties across 10 states/territories.
Arizona view state ↗ 5 N ▾
Colorado view state ↗ 37 N ▾
- Adams 08001
- Alamosa 08003
- Baca 08009
- Bent 08011
- Boulder 08013
- Chaffee 08015
- Cheyenne 08017
- Crowley 08025
- Custer 08027
- Dolores 08033
- El Paso 08041
- Fremont 08043
- Garfield 08045
- Gilpin 08047
- Grand 08049
- Jefferson 08059
- Kiowa 08061
- Larimer 08069
- Las Animas 08071
- Lincoln 08073
- Logan 08075
- Mesa 08077
- Moffat 08081
- Montezuma 08083
- Montrose 08085
- Morgan 08087
- Otero 08089
- Ouray 08091
- Pueblo 08101
- Rio Blanco 08103
- Routt 08107
- San Juan 08111
- San Miguel 08113
- Sedgwick 08115
- Teller 08119
- Washington 08121
- Weld 08123
Kansas view state ↗ 10 N ▾
Montana view state ↗ 26 N ▾
- Beaverhead 30001
- Broadwater 30007
- Carbon 30009
- Carter 30011
- Chouteau 30015
- Custer 30017
- Fergus 30027
- Gallatin 30031
- Garfield 30033
- Golden Valley 30037
- Lewis and Clark 30049
- Madison 30057
- McCone 30055
- Park 30067
- Petroleum 30069
- Phillips 30071
- Powder River 30075
- Prairie 30079
- Rosebud 30087
- Sheridan 30091
- Stillwater 30095
- Sweet Grass 30097
- Teton 30099
- Toole 30101
- Valley 30105
- Yellowstone 30111
Nebraska view state ↗ 7 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 30 N ▾
- Bernalillo 35001
- Catron 35003
- Chaves 35005
- Cibola 35006
- Colfax 35007
- Curry 35009
- De Baca 35011
- Dona Ana 35013
- Grant 35017
- Guadalupe 35019
- Harding 35021
- Lea 35025
- Lincoln 35027
- Los Alamos 35028
- Luna 35029
- McKinley 35031
- Mora 35033
- Otero 35035
- Quay 35037
- Rio Arriba 35039
- San Juan 35045
- San Miguel 35047
- Sandoval 35043
- Santa Fe 35049
- Sierra 35051
- Socorro 35053
- Taos 35055
- Torrance 35057
- Union 35059
- Valencia 35061
North Dakota view state ↗ 18 N ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 1 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 6 N ▾
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/OPPO ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/5384095 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T10:50:45Z