Species · genus Opuntia · Cactaceae

Bakersfield Beaver-tail Cactus

Opuntia basilaris Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow

Also known as: Beaver-tail Cactus · Beaver-tail Prickly-pear · Beavertail Prickly-pear · Beavertail Pricklypear · Branching Beaver-tail Cactus

Growth habit

tree

Native range

Arizona, California, Mexico Northwest, Nevada, Utah

Reference · O. basilaris

Cultivars of O. basilaris

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under O. basilaris yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Opuntia basilaris is a beavertail prickly pear from the arid southwestern deserts of North America, a Cactaceae adapted to intense sun and long dry spells. Give it the brightest, most direct light you can and a gritty, fast-draining mineral mix. Water deeply only when the soil has been bone dry for several days, and cut back sharply in winter; sitting wet is the surest way to rot it.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-30d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Direct sun

Water

≈ every 30 days

Humidity

Low — average room

Temperature

7–32 °C

Soil mix

Gritty, very fast-draining cactus mix

Propagation

Rooting detached pads after callusing

Fertilizing

Dilute low-nitrogen cactus feed once or twice in summer

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Large rose-pink flowers in spring given a bright, dry rest

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-30d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Bakersfield Beaver-tail Cactus yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.