Species · genus Opuntia · Cactaceae

Eastern Prickly-pear

Opuntia cespitosa Raf.

Also known as: Eastern Prickly-pear Cactus

Growth habit

succulent subshrub

Native range

Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Reference · O. cespitosa

Cultivars of O. cespitosa

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

No named cultivars catalogued under O. cespitosa 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.

A cold-hardy prickly pear native to open, sunny, well-drained ground across eastern and central North America, this succulent subshrub stores water in its flattened pads and rots if kept wet. Give it gritty, fast-draining mix and the brightest direct light you can offer, then water deeply only when the mix has gone completely dry — wait until the pads look slightly thinned or wrinkled before watering again. It tolerates dry household air and needs far less water in the cooler, low-light months.

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

5–32 °C

Soil mix

Gritty, free-draining cactus mix

Propagation

Rooting callused pads

Fertilizing

Weak cactus feed once or twice in the growing season

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Bright yellow to orange blooms in early summer under strong light

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 Eastern Prickly-pear 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.