Species · genus Opuntia · Cactaceae

New Mexico Prickly-pear

Opuntia phaeacantha Engelm.

Also known as: Tulip Pricklypear · Brown-spine Prickly-pear · Brownspine Pricklypear · Dense-spine Prickly-pear · Desert Prickly-pear

Growth habit

succulent subshrub

Native range

Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah

Reference · O. phaeacantha

Cultivars of O. phaeacantha

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

No named cultivars catalogued under O. phaeacantha 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 hardy prickly pear from the arid southwestern US and northern Mexico, this succulent subshrub stores water in its flattened pads and is built for deep, infrequent drinks in gritty, fast-draining soil. Give it the brightest, sunniest spot you have and let the mix dry out completely; water only when it has been fully dry for several days, and err toward waiting longer. Sitting in damp soil is the main way to kill 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

5–32 °C

Soil mix

Very gritty, fast-draining cactus mix with pumice

Propagation

Root a callused pad segment in dry mix

Fertilizing

Dilute low-nitrogen cactus feed once or twice in the growing season

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Rarely flowers indoors

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 New Mexico 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.