Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus
by Sandi OReilly
Title
Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus
Artist
Sandi OReilly
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
This photo is of a cactus I found growing wild on some of the dunes along the Carolina coast we were visiting. I later found it was the Eastern Prickly Pear. I painted in some areas and added some textures, one mine and one from Joe Olive.
Opuntia humifusa, commonly known as the Eastern Prickly Pear or Indian Fig, is a native cactus found in most of eastern North America. It ranges from Montana eastward to southern Ontario and then on to Massachusetts, south to Florida and westward to New Mexico.
The green stems of this low-growing perennial cactus are flattened and are formed of segments. Barbed bristles are found around the surfaces of the segments and longer spines are sometimes present. The flowers are yellow to gold in color and are found along the margins of mature segments. The flowers are waxy and sometimes have red centers. They measure 4-6 cm wide and bloom in the late spring.
The juicy and edible red fruits measure from 3-5 cm. As the fruit matures, it changes colour from green to red, and often remains on the cactus until the following spring. There are 6 to 33 small, flat, light-colored seeds in each fruit.
This plant is very intolerant of shade. It thrives in full sun and well-drained soil.
Uploaded
August 15th, 2013
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Viewed 2,274 Times - Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 04/09/2024 at 12:36 AM
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Comments (127)
Laurie Search
This is so beautiful, dear Sandi!! Love your composition and the wonderful color!!!! :)))vft
Sandi OReilly
Lil, great comments and enjoyed reading!! Keep looking for the blooms, these were seen the end of May but there are many along the coast during summer. Thank you very much for your f/v!!
Lil Taylor
Oh this is just gorgeous!!! Sandi, the colors, contrasts, composition of this piece only contribute to my mouth watering thinking about a margarita with prickly pear juice in Sedona!!! Love it!! Btw, I've seen some cactus growing on the dunes in NC but have yet to see them bloom after many many years. NOW, I'm going to really pay attention!! Thank you for visiting again and for your sweet comments!!! f/v
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