Opuntia phaeacantha – “Mojave Prickly Pear”

Also Known As: Tulip Prickly Pear, Brown-Spined Prickly Pear, Desert Prickly Pear
Family: Cactus (Cactaceae)
Bloom Period: May-Jul
Form: Flattened pads on decumbent branches; 1-3 feet (0.3–1 m) tall
Habitat: Rocky areas, canyons, gravelly soils
Leaves: 1–4 spines, up to 3 inches (8 cm) long, red-brown near base, white or straw at tips, often pointing down
Translation: “Opuntia” is an old Latin name used by Pliny, the Roman writer, in reference to the city of Opus, where spiny plants apparently grew (although not cacti); “phaeacantha” is Greek for “grey-spined,” which this plant is.
Native American Uses: The Havasupai ate the fruits fresh, sun-dried them for later, and pounded them into cakes for immediate eating and for storage. They also used the spines for tattooing. The Navajo ate the fruits fresh, ground the seeds into flour for thickening soups and other dishes, cooked strips of the pad for use as chewing gum, and processed the pulp from the pads to make cakes, jelly and candy. The Pima ate the pads, sliced, cooked and “seasoned like string beans” (Moerman). Nursing women applied a heated poultice of the plant to their breasts to encourage milk-flow.
Animal Associations: Fruits and seeds eaten by the White-Tailed Antelope Ground Squirrel, Rock Squirrel, Ring-tailed Cat and occasionally the Coyote. The pads are an important source of water for the Desert Woodrat which eats them without being injured by the spines. Nectar source for hummingbirds, including Costa’s Hummingbird.