Plants
Cacti & Succulents
Sighting 4299518

Opuntia (genus)

2 Prickly Pears at O'Malley, ACT

Opuntia (genus) at O'Malley, ACT - 29 Jul 2020 06:27 PM
Opuntia (genus) at O'Malley, ACT - 29 Jul 2020 06:27 PM
Request use of media

Identification history

Opuntia (genus) 15 Feb 2021 MichaelMulvaney
Opuntia elatior 30 Jul 2020 MichaelMulvaney
Opuntia (genus) 30 Jul 2020 Mike

Identify this sighting

Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

User's notes

This seems to be the only one with large spines.

8 comments

MichaelMulvaney wrote:
   30 Jul 2020
Mike I will get a second opinion on this one - it is a pretty invasive prickly pear and not one we have had recorded in the ACT before.
Mike wrote:
   30 Jul 2020
I was once told that to identify the cacti on Scrivener Hill I should wait until they flowered. Local residents are planting O. ficus-indica but I don't know how this got here. By the way spelling is O. elatior.
Mike wrote:
   30 Jul 2020
Location looks a bit out. I think it is closer to the Libyan Embassy and nearer the track.
MichaelMulvaney wrote:
   31 Jul 2020
Mike, Harley Baker one of our weed ecologists, got back to me and said, from the photo I would say I haven’t seen this one around before. I think O.eliator looks to be a likely suspect but from what I can see online most photos of it show O.eliator as having fewer more spaced out areoles than the photo on CNM. This would be a good one to take a sample of to the National Herbarium for an accurate ID"
Are you able to take one of the cactus segments and drop off to Dave Albrecht at the Herbarium? Can you leave the plant alive until ID has been confirmed, in case Dave needs a flower. No worriesif getting to the Her barium is a hassle, Harley has offered to do it if need be.
Mike wrote:
   2 Aug 2020
I have found another plant nearby that can spare a segment. Blades are about 25 cm with 4 cm spines. I have added photo to iNaturalist for their cactus experts. Some nearby O. ficus-indica that has been ripped out has 1 cm spines on fresh growth.
MichaelMulvaney wrote:
   3 Aug 2020
Thanks Mike - CSIRO Herbarium will appreciate the specimen
Mike wrote:
   3 Aug 2020
iNaturalist has suggested Opuntia elata or "Could be the spiny form of Opuntia ficus-indica. See this link: https://www.opuntiads.com/opuntia-ficus-indica/". The link has similar images of "Opuntia ficus-indica, reverting to O. streptacantha look" so that might be in the genes.
Mike wrote:
   15 Feb 2021
With everything else going on I had forgotten to get a herbarium specimen. It is probably still there.

Please Login or Register to comment.

Location information

Sighting information

Species information

Record quality

  • Images or audio
  • More than one media file
  • Verified by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
833,152 sightings of 22,967 species from 14,456 members
CCA 3.0 | privacy
NatureMapr is developed by at3am IT Pty Ltd and is proudly Australian made