Ed . note of hand : This article add on a Plant Profile in the Summer 2025 military issue ofNorthern Gardener .
I was confused . Why does theNational Park Servicerefer to plains prickly pear at Scotts Bluff National Monument in Nebraska asO. polyacanthawhen Minnesota ’s plain prickly pear isO. macrorhiza ? I look for limpidity from Rocky Mountain Gardens in Missoula , MT .
“ This confusion illustrate the service program of scientific name , ” allege coordinator Molly Anton . “ Common names [ like plains prickly pear ] are often repeated across multiple species . ” In other words , any one mintage can have multiple common names but only one scientific name .
Opuntia macrorhiza,otherwise known as the Minnesota prickly pear. Courtesyminnesotawildflowers.info
For example , while there ’s a plains prickly pear in Montana and a plainsprickly pear in Minnesota , they ’re not the same . “ They apportion a lot of similarities , admit their existence in the plains , but are clearly their own species , ” excuse Anton . That ’s why they ’re bothOpuntia(prickly Pyrus communis ) but the Montanan isO. polyacanthaand theMinnesotan isO. macrorhiza .
AtRocky Mountain Gardens , “ we have two specie ofOpuntiathat … are the only twoOpuntiasnative to Montana , ’’ Anton adds . “ We haveOpuntia polyacantha , champaign prickly pear … .O. polyacanthais much more common in eastern Montana and used to be more common in Missoula Valley . ”
The garden also haveOpuntia fragilis , brittle prickly pear . The pads easily come off , hence the “ brittle ” description in the common name . This species is more widespread throughout Montana thanO. polyacanthaand often can be found in rocky outcroppings in and around Missoula .
ThisOpuntiais a hybrid, known as the ‘Red Gem’. Try this cold-hardy cactus in your rock garden. Courtesycoldhardycactus.com
These cacti produce seed , so you could always wait for the industrial plant to produce blossoms and go to seed , then compile seeded player and plant them . And then wait some more . merrily , there ’s an easier , firm method acting , used by Sasha Victor in her work with Native Plant Propagation and Restoration , Conservation Lands Management for the City of Missoula :
… pads darken , line and flop , this is normal , end - of - season change as H2O is redirect from pads to roots . Wrinkling during the growing time of year may point evaporation . If the top half column inch of grime feel dry , water until it ’s moist .
… base becomes chocolate-brown / hard from the bottom up , this is call “ corking ” and is a normal part of senescence that spreads from the infrastructure upward .
… becomes brown from the top down , you might have spider mites or mealybugs . Three solutions : Blast pests off with water , being deliberate not to overwater the plant . Remove pests with a pair of tweezers . do by as recommended by your garden supply store .
Janet Cassis a Montana - base editor , writer and nurseryman .
feature of speech photo : Opuntia fragilis,‘Compact flesh ’ good manners ofcoldhardycactus.com .
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