Pennsylvania Cactus

I call this the Pennsylvania cactus because that is where it came from, but what is its real name? I don't know if it is native to PA, but it survives the winters there just fine.

Looks like prickly pear.

(mine also has yellow flowers when in bloom)

Here's a better shot. Is this what you have?

It looks like they could be the same thing, though mine has red at the base of the flowers. Maybe it has something to do with the intensity of the sun here. The photographed plant is in California.

There are a couple of opuntia species that it could be, I think, but I can't narrow it down and my books seem to contradict each other.

I found this site which shows one with red like yours. Maybe this is it?
Opuntia humilis

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/prairieplants.html

Look on that page for the plant and you'll see links to photos

Or just look here:

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/prairiephotos/opunthumi1.jpg

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/prairiephotos/opunthumi2.jpg

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/prairiephotos/opunthumi3.jpg

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/prairiephotos/opunthumi4.jpg

That's close enough that I will accept Opuntia humilis as the name. Thanks!

hc,
Did you bring that cactus in or find it native here.
I have the same one brought down from Dayton.
It's been growing outside for over 15 years up there.
Ric

Here's a little helpful information. Down in Texas we have the prickly pear which is similar to your picture only much larger. Usually 1-2 ft. and up to 6 ft. The O. engelmannii var. lindheimeri pads are up to a foot long and profusely covered with two-inch spines. The yellow flowers are sometimes marked with orange or red at the base of the petals. We also have one that is called cow tongue because of it's long, narrow, tongue-shaped pads. Another, which is native as far north as Utah have flowers and fruits as large as our large prickly pear but the plant itself, along with its pads and spines, is half the size. It is O. phaepcantha which may be your plant.

Ric, I think I bought mine at a garden store somewhere...I 'think'. I don't remember excatly. It's 100% hardy though. Funny how it shrivels up and looks bad in the winter, then in spring it swells up and stands up again. In winter, it flops over flat when it shrivels up a little.

The "Pennsylvania cactus" has very few spines, but tons of glocchids. It doesn't get more than about 8 inches tall. It does the shrivel up thing that hc mentioned. I read that what is going on there is that the plant is concentrating its "juices" by taking in less water. This makes it less likely to freeze. My theory was that by shriveling and laying flat, it made it easier for the plant to be covered by insulating snow. Here in CA, if I keep it well-watered (for a cactus, relatively speaking), it doesn't shrivel in the fall and winter.

hc,
Yes they look pretty pathetique come Spring. LOL
What amazes me is these are just thrown in the ground in our heavy clay soil so they sit in muck all Winter.
So much for the free-draining low water when dormant bit.
I have rescued 4 pads from Dayton and potted them up in my Cactus mix.
I'm interested to see what happens verses the grounded ones.
I'll post a shot this evening.
Ric

Our ElJefe has a lot to say on the subject of Cactus.....I was there just last week and he shared some nice Prickley Pear Wine with us. Jo

http://www.arizonacactus.com/

Yeah, mine is in really thick clay that stays really wet sometimes and it's just fine. You can grab a piece of this and throw it down wherever you want and it'll grow...hehe I guess there's lots of stored energy in those pads.

i lost all mine to last yrs winter!!! grrrrrrr
it was terribly cold for way to long! so so sad this spring!:(

Our's managed to do pretty well this Winter.
By the time the snow had melted they had already plumped up.
The one's at my Parent's house in Dayton were not so well off.
They have been overgrown and were about gone.

Here's a couple of pads from mine (traded out) from 4/5.

They are pretty much spineless and the glocchids aren't as penatrating as most of the Opuntia we have. (Thankfully)

Ric

Ric, where are you located?

Lucybeth, welcome. Good to see you here. I am originally from McAllen, so we are practically old neighbors!

Love, Lavanda

Sorry. I changed my settings.
I joined last week and hadn't realized I didn't put in my State.

Ric