Species Notes:Comment from Dave Ferguson -Associate Curator, Rio Grande Botanic Garden:
Top picture is [also known as] O. camanchica (the most common small Opuntia at east Saguaro Nat'l. Mon.). A lot of plants there have white spines instead of the usual dark brown...The purple coloring is common in numerous species, especially when under stress. O. camanchica is very close to O. phaeacantha, but woody internally (no woody sceleton in O. phaeacantha) and averaging a tad larger.
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