Pronounciation: O-PUN-tee-a ma-crow-SIN-tra

Hardiness zones:
Sunset 13, 18-24
USDA 9-11

Landscape Use: Smaller accent or barrier cactus for desert style gardens, xeriscapes.

Form & Character: Dense, low growing, shrubby cactus, rigid, dry, dangerous, unfriendly, colorful.

Growth Habit: Evergreen, succulent perennial, moderate growth rate, prostrate and spreading and many branched to 2-feet tall with a significantly greater spread.

Foliage/Texture: Stems of Opuntia are jointed into flattened sections called clades, blades or pads, which store water. Purple pricklypear pads are glaucous blue with a tinge of purple throughout the year (similar to Opuntia santa-rita), and are generously adorned with elongated, somewhat white spines at each aerole, occassionally blackened (as if singed in a fire), sometimes to 3-inches long; coarse texture.

Flowers & Fruits: Flowers petals yellow with orange red centers; fruits reddish in late summer and fall.

Seasonal Color: Consistently blooms in April to May.

Temperature: Strongly heat tolerant, cold hardy to 25^oF.

Light: Full sun to partial shade.

Soil: Tolerant

Watering: Extremely drought tolerant, but an occasional summer soaking will keep pads flush.

Pruning: None is really needed, but if one must prune, then make sure to wear proper protective equipment (PPE) to avoid accidental injury caused by "spinal engagement".

Propagation: As with all Opuntia, purple prickly pear easily roots at the basal end of pads, seed (generally unnecessary).

Disease and Pests: None (appears mostly resistant to Cochineal scale insects)

Additional comments: This is one diminutive, yet tough Opuntia for use in Phoenix landscapes.