Scientific Name: Opuntia santa-rita
?Cactus native to the Sonoran Desert
?Pollinated by bees
?Birds, mammals and insects eat prickly-pear fruits
?The pads are eaten by jackrabbits, packrats, javelina, giant cactus beetles, cactus weevils, cochineal bugs, and one species of moth (Copidryas cosyra), which have all evolve to eat the oxalic acid toxic flesh
?Is a nest and roost site for Curved-billed Thrashers, Mourning Doves and Roadrunners
?Humans eat the flesh and fruit and cultivate them for drinks, syrup and jelly
?The juice has been used to strengthen adobe mortar
?They have stems that grow in jointed segments
?This species of prickly-pear is trunked as opposed to more shrubby prickly-pears

Photo: Taken at the Riparian Institute at the Gilbert Water Ranch, 2007. For more photos, click on camera icon.

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