Purple Prickly Pear
Opuntia macrocentra
Purple prickly pear is prized for its violet-tinged pads (deepest in cold and drought) and yellow, red-centered flowers, a striking, drought-proof cactus for hot gardens. Like other prickly pears, the pads (nopales) and sweet fruit (tunas) are traditional foods once the spines are removed.
- Family
- Cactaceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 2–4 ft
- Spacing
- 3–5 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- March, April, May, June, July, August
- Bloom colors
- red, yellow
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, songbirds, mammals
- Landscape uses
- foundation
- Native states
- AZ, CO, NM, TX
Related native plants
More Opuntia species
- Beavertail Prickly Pear (Opuntia basilaris)
- Engelmann's Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii)
- Eastern Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa)
- Tulip Prickly Pear (Opuntia phaeacantha)
- Plains Prickly Pear (Opuntia macrorhiza)
- Santa Rita Prickly Pear (Opuntia santa-rita)