Opuntia engelmannii . . .

[Cereusly]

. . . red form bud trying to open on this overcast, on-and-off rainy day. There are at least ten flower buds on this plant and with some warm sunshine I'll see some of them at their best.

Opuntia engelmannii (red form)

[Peterthecactusguy]

Tony,
that is a cool O. engelmannii. I found an O. engelmannii var linguformis in someones yard that had a reddish orange flower on it.

Where did you say you got that from again?

[Cereusly]

Peter, a friend gave me two pads five years ago, and it has grown well. Even he was surprised how red mine was compared to the flowers on his plant. Tony

[Peterthecactusguy]

Right, I forgot. It's a nice plant.

[daiv]

That's a very nice color flower.

I remember your watering can gift, are you still putting it to use?

[Cereusly]

Daiv, that watering can gets used almost every day. It's one of the most useful gifts I've ever gotten. Tony

[peterb]

Great flower color! Interesting pad shapes and spines/spine colors on this one. I doubt it's engelmannii but I don't really have an alternative suggestion. Maybe a wacko California hybrid.

peterb

[Cereusly]

Peter, If you doubt that this plant is Opuntia engelmannii, you should come up with a better alternative than a "wacko California hybrid." http://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/17 ... ctus-apple Tony

[peterb]

It's sometimes easier for me to say what an Opuntia probably isn't than what it is.

In California, many different populations of Opuntia interbreed. There are tons of phaeacanthaXengelmannii, for example, and this one seems to have some phaeacantha characters. It also might have some of the coastal Opuntias in it, either littoralis or oricola, neither species of which do I understand very well.

peterb

[Peterthecactusguy]

PeterB, I wonder myself too,
however I have no idea what type it could possibly be.

Tony, whatever type of Opuntia it is I like it!

[peterb]

Tony, I sent a couple of your pics to Dave Ferguson who replied with this:

"The plant is Opuntia vaseyi. The name should be perhaps considered a nomen dubium, because the type locality was Yuma, Arizona, where no such plant grows, and it's unclear from the description and type specimen if this is the species really described (it could be, or it could be something from Arizona). Anyway, you'll also see it as O. magenta, O. austrocalifornica, and perhaps a few other names. All are often lumped under O. littoralis, but it's a very distinct and different species from that one. Yours is a bit spinier than average. Flowers are usually about the color of yours, but can also be magenta, pink, more orange, or even yellow. The fat ovary and later a usually very dark round fruit are typical.

Grows naturally basically in the Los Angeles basin (east limit is near San Bernardino), south I think near Lake Elsinore (maybe not quite that far), and north to the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountain base. Even though ignored and thought of as common, it is becoming a seriously endangered species in habitat."

Most recently it seems Opuntia vaseyi is thought of as a naturally occurring hybrid between Opuntia littoralis and Opuntia phaeacantha. (According to Baker and Parfitt).

Cool Opuntia!

peterb

[Peterthecactusguy]

AHA PeterB, you confirmed one of my suspicions there. I thought it might have had O. phaeancantha in it!

Like I said before Tony, it's a cool plant NO matter what the name of it is!
Those red flowers are appealing

[peterb]

I notice there are no flower pics for Opuntia vaseyi on the Guide, so these fine flowers would make a great addition.

peterb

[Tony]

Peter wrote;

Grows naturally basically in the Los Angeles basin (east limit is near San Bernardino), south I think near Lake Elsinore (maybe not quite that far), and north to the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountain base. Even though ignored and thought of as common, it is becoming a seriously endangered species in habitat."

If it is the same plant I see in the foothills around here on an almost daily basis, it doesnt seem all that endangered to me... It grows like mad everywhere.

[daiv]

I'd guess that you are seeing O. litoralis, perhaps?