Opuntia Species, Prickly Pear Cactus, Violet Prickly Pear

very attractive Opuntia. It is often confused with Opuntia Santa Rita, and sometimes with Opuntia macrocentra. One way I tell the diffe...Read Morerence, when not in flower, is Opuntia Santa Rita nearly always has only glochid. This plant often has spines, but only near the top of each pad (rarely if ever at the lower ends of the pads). And Opuntia macrocentra has long single spines all over their pads (black spines often). All have turquoise pads, but Opunita macrocentra rarely has the degree of purple-pink the other two do.

Unlike many hardy opuntias, this one keep a really good posture, not spreading over the groung. Surely one of the best species for a xeri...Read Morescapic garden !

It took quite a few years to get a small 2" potted plant to get some size-but as it did,the color became intense. Do not overwater as it ...Read Moredoes rot easily,especially potted. In ground they can still be set back by wet NorCal winters. But,once that summer sunshine starts they are the stars of the Opuntia's.

Often confused with Opuntia santa-rita.
O. gosseliniana has plain yellow flowers, O. santa-rita has yellow flowers with a bright r...Read Moreed base.
O. gosseliniana gets to about 3.3 feet high, while Opuntia santa-rita gets to about 6.6 feet high and has larger pads.
O. gosseliniana's pads are thicker but smaller in diameter.

I've seen these growing in the wild on the West Ruby Road Trail in Arizona (South of Tucson), off of Interstate 19 through to Ruby, AZ and on to Arivaca, AZ.