Opuntia ID please

[Gee.S]

Dunno about blue rufida, mine is the normal green pad/bronze glochid type. My O. rufida manages full sun just fine, as long as I dump a bucket of water on it every couple weeks through summer. It isn't shy about asking for water, as it wilts dramatically when thirsty. Very fast grower, btw.

I believe that were one to plant and establish 5-gal O. microdasys and O. rufida out in habitat near some hills at 2500' in central AZ somewhere, then return in 5 years, the O. rufida would be long since dead and the O. microdasys would have spread to about a half acre. Which is probably why we find feral O. microdasys around, but never feral O. rufida.

[mcvansoest]

OK, I remembered I had posted a picture of my plant on a different site.

so here is what I have as Opuntia rufida, and which turns up in about a third of the pictures if you google Opuntia rufida:

786bc4.jpg (177.03 KiB) Viewed 1306 times

So quite different looking from the red glochid rich looking version.

[Gee.S]

So different, I might call it O. chlorotica.

[Viegener]

My Armenian supermarket always has nopales in stock, about 1 lb bags pre-trimmed for about $1.50. I was taught to cut them in about 1x1" diamonds, let them dry, coat them with olive oil & salt and then just put them under the broiler until lightly browned. Amazing, crunchy and not gooey.

Also re tunas, the best way to eat them is to cut them in half & use a melon baller. The skin tastes fine, but removing glochids is a hassle.

Oh, and barbecue tongs! They are indispensable for pruning. I found one with silicon coated grippers, which holds even better. If you use gloves for pruning they will sooner or later (sooner really) be covered in spines & glochids, and become as hazardous as the opuntia themselves. I mostly don't throw away the trimmings though. They get piled in pretty informal compost heaps with leaves & kitchen waste. Since they retain moisture, I think they're pretty good for the mix. Also I notice the spines/glochids break down pretty quickly.

[mcvansoest]

So different, I might call it O. chlorotica.

I am sure it is not O. chlorotica, have seen that up close, this is distinctly different.

On cactiguide.com there are pictures of plants with both appearances under the name Opuntia rufida and some that you might consider somewhat intermediate between the two forms. Not saying they couldn't/shouldn't be different just noting that the confusion (if that is what it is) is widespread. The DBG has a large plant labeled O. rufida that looks exactly like mine.
If I look at enough images I can definitely convince myself that there are plants with intermediate characteristics, with mine be more characteristic of one extreme. The flowers and the fruits are pretty much the same on both ends of the spectrum though.

[Azuleja]

Once probably 20 years ago or longer we removed an Opuntia from a rental after the tenants, who were cactiphiles, moved out. We threw it in the yard waste pile in a ditch in a field...and there it grows to this day. The ditch runs in rainy weather and the Opuntia goes for a swim. It freezes, then gets no moisture at all during summer. I would not try to convince you that it thrives in these conditions, but it survives. I've forgotten about it for years at a time and just now forgot about it again. I hope this doesn't get me kicked off the boards. I'm going to take a photo of it and look for an ID. It's incredibly spiny or would have long been trampled by cattle.

[Gee.S]

So different, I might call it O. chlorotica.

I am sure it is not O. chlorotica, have seen that up close, this is distinctly different.

On cactiguide.com there are pictures of plants with both appearances under the name Opuntia rufida and some that you might consider somewhat intermediate between the two forms. Not saying they couldn't/shouldn't be different just noting that the confusion (if that is what it is) is widespread. The DBG has a large plant labeled O. rufida that looks exactly like mine.
If I look at enough images I can definitely convince myself that there are plants with intermediate characteristics, with mine be more characteristic of one extreme. The flowers and the fruits are pretty much the same on both ends of the spectrum though.

I'm probably fuzzy on characteristics of each. I had thought they look very similar, except that O. rufida is far more upright than O. microdasys. Is that not right?

[Azuleja]

I've tried a few seemingly spineless ones & ended up scrapping them...I'm curious if anyone else knows/has a good (really) glochid-less opuntia.

I'm curious if O. 'Old Mexico' and O. ellisiana were the other spineless ones you tried? They look like they could be.

Here's ours, definitely not spineless. I admire its resilience but am not at all tempted to bring it back into the yard.

[mcvansoest]

They look very similar, but the Opuntia microdasys var. rufida is still very much an Opuntia microdasys, and while maybe a little taller, neither is a very tall plant, they just spread out to cover lots of ground. Opuntia rufida, appears more variable in several of the cactus resources, online and in book form, that I have looked at and in one extreme form can easily be mistaken for Opuntia microdasys var. rufida based on a single pad but it is a much taller bushy plant and generally with pads that can get bigger and as said can have a more variable appearance.

I looked at my plant before it got dark tonight and in essence it has the red glochids, they are just really deeply sunk below the pad level masking the color of them and the pads are thicker and more grey than you see in the form with the 'regular' glochids.

Viegener: The O. quimilo does not have any glochids that I could feel. I gave it a full on grab the pad in the bare hand test and came away completely unscathed.
I also checked O. cochenillifera (officially that should be Nopalea cochenillifera) and that as some tiny tiny hairs that did not manage to penetrate my skin at all, but it is not completely glochid free. Nice tree sized plant, does surprisingly well here, though it does shed pads easily and gets a little messy. Very cute flowers on that one.

Azuleja: That is a healthy looking Prickly Pear, sorry, I do to outright have an ID for you. As to the others you mention, I have both, I think ellisiana still has some glochids, I will need to look at 'Old Mexico', since I have not actually consciously checked that one, my guess is that it does have some.

[Viegener]

Azuleja, no, the ones I tried had neither spines nor glochids, just pads I'd pick up on travels. They all looked glochid-free for a moment, then they weren't...

[Agave_fan]

Are nopalitos commonly sold fresh as food in the produce section where you guys live?

They are common where I shop (HEB and Wholefoods) Azuleja. https://www.heb.com/product-detail/fres ... es/1626797

They seem to be available all year and you can buy the whole pad or cut up pieces in bags or plastic containers. I live near a big HEB Plus store where they sometimes have a person in a booth preparing these fresh. The pads being prepared were fairly large and thick (not the thin tender looking ones shown in the above link) and the person was very skilled and fast with a knife. At first I thought she was peeling the pads but on closer inspection, she was just shaving over the area where the spines would be.

You see nopales listed on many menus in my area and I have had them in a lot of different dishes- everything from breakfast items to nopales salads. I think I even had a ceviche with nopales in it once. I like the tangy flavor but have never prepared my own.

[Agavemonger]

That would make a great video link (The person preparing Nopales)

The Monger

[Azuleja]

Saw small pots of Opuntia quimilo at HD today. Surprisingly, all the little cactus and succulent pots were labeled today. Lots of mammillaria too.