Hello cactus forum, I am back with another Opuntia that I wish to id. It is a part of the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens, so it is captive and was likely cultivated intentionally. The cactus was labelled as Opuntia littoralis years ago, but we would like to get some more opinions, pictures below. Thanks!













(This plant is separate, but is a clone.)

Not sure if the plant you are posting pictures of is the real thing, but here is the entry for it on opuntiads.com:

https://www.opuntiads.com/opun...

So it is an accepted California species.

It is not Opuntia littoralis. We have that plant growing in habitat around here and it is a low plant with different shaped/colored pads.

It kinda looks like engelmanii, but engelmanii doesnt have those curved spines...
...those are rare I think

opuntia dillenii?

skopjecollection said:opuntia dillenii?

I definitely think it looks the most similar to O. dillenii, but I feel it still could be O. littoralis or even engelmanni like you said, it's very difficult to differentiate these species. Does anyone know some sort of resource that clearly states the differences between these species? For exemple I just read online recently that the only supposed difference between O. stricta and O. dillenii is the average number of spines per areole is more than 3, but even then most example photos of O. stricta show a lot of areoles with more than 4 spines. Also the way the fruit forms on this on this cacti is pretty strange, maybe its because they are infertile? Or could it be a trait of the species/variety? IDK

Baja_Costero said:It is not Opuntia littoralis. We have that plant growing in habitat around here and it is a low plant with different shaped/colored pads.

• Coastal Prickly Pear (Opuntia littoralis)
• Uploaded by Baja_Costero

• Coastal Prickly Pear (Opuntia littoralis)
• Uploaded by Baja_Costero

Yes it does seem very different, especially in how new stem segments develop (bright red, as opposed to green, which is how they start on this cactus).

deadbilly said:

I definitely think it looks the most similar to O. dillenii, but I feel it still could be O. littoralis or even engelmanni like you said, it's very difficult to differentiate these species. Does anyone know some sort of resource that clearly states the differences between these species? For exemple I just read online recently that the only supposed difference between O. stricta and O. dillenii is the average number of spines per areole is more than 3, but even then most example photos of O. stricta show a lot of areoles with more than 4 spines. Also the way the fruit forms on this on this cacti is pretty strange, maybe its because they are infertile? Or could it be a trait of the species/variety? IDK

Its not hard. Like I said- look at the spines. They are curved. Very curved. Most opuntias have straight unbent spines. Even those that 2 have it really long. The other one with bent spines is o.chlorotica.

skopjecollection said:
Its not hard. Like I said- look at the spines. They are curved. Very curved. Most opuntias have straight unbent spines. Even those that 2 have it really long. The other one with bent spines is o.chlorotica.

Oh I did not think of that, so the curved spines makes you think its dillenii?

deadbilly said:
Oh I did not think of that, so the curved spines makes you think its dillenii?

Like I said, they are rare. Besides, I think stricta should generally be spineless...

Mr Deadbilly,
I've had some luck contacting the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix for definitive help identifying plants.
I suggest e-mailing their plant hotline address, with pictures, and requesting an opinion from an Opuntia specialist. Turned out to be a great resource.
https://dbg.org/contact/

The DBG may be able to tell you, that is definitely a good possibility. I would also refer you back to the website I shared: opuntiads.com.
It is run by a collective of opuntia experts in the US, so for opuntias that are predominantly native to the US they may represent the best collective knowledge, so they may be able to help with an ID as well.

MsDoe said:Mr Deadbilly,
I've had some luck contacting the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix for definitive help identifying plants.
I suggest e-mailing their plant hotline address, with pictures, and requesting an opinion from an Opuntia specialist. Turned out to be a great resource.
https://dbg.org/contact/

mcvansoest said:The DBG may be able to tell you, that is definitely a good possibility. I would also refer you back to the website I shared: opuntiads.com.
It is run by a collective of opuntia experts in the US, so for opuntias that are predominantly native to the US they may represent the best collective knowledge, so they may be able to help with an ID as well.

Great! Thanks for all the help and advice I will try the DBG and see if they have an idea, and probably Opuntiaads.com, thanks again!