Eastern Prickly Pear
Opuntia humifusa
Eastern prickly pear is the cold-hardy native prickly pear of the East, a low mat of flat pads with silky yellow flowers and edible red fruit. Surprisingly winter-hardy for a cactus.
- Family
- Cactaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 0.5–1 ft
- Spacing
- 1–1.5 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- neutral, acidic, alkaline
- Bloom
- May, June, July
- Bloom colors
- yellow
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, songbirds, mammals
- Landscape uses
- naturalizing
- Native states
- AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WV
Related native plants
More Opuntia species
- Beavertail Prickly Pear (Opuntia basilaris)
- Engelmann's Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii)
- Tulip Prickly Pear (Opuntia phaeacantha)
- Plains Prickly Pear (Opuntia macrorhiza)
- Purple Prickly Pear (Opuntia macrocentra)
- Santa Rita Prickly Pear (Opuntia santa-rita)