Cacti facti! 4 Photos Pictured are, I think, two different varieties of purplish prickly pear cactus (Opuntia azura) found in Big Bend National Park, Brewster County, Texas. Prickly pears all belong to the genus Opuntia, which also includes the cholla. Opuntia is notorious for taxonomic complexity. And Opuntia azura is a species with multiple forms and geographic races. At least 4 of them are found in Big Bend. So, my identifications, mainly based on pad and spine shapes, sizes, colors, and characteristics, could be wrong. Here goes Photos 1-2: Opuntia azura var. parva, the purplish prickly pear Photos 3-4: Opuntia azura var. diplopurpurea, the diploid purple prickly pear Cacti all belong to the Cactaceae Family, comprised of 100-122 genera and 1500-1600 species. All are native to the New World, and occur from Canada to Patagonia The Trans-Pecos, the 9-county-area of far west Texas, west of the Pecos River, is the most cactus-rich region of the U.S. All of the Trans-Pecos lies within the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest desert in North America. At least 76 species and 33 varieties of cacti are found in the Trans-Pecos For comparison, 2/3 of the Chihuahuan Desert lies in Mexico. If you want to see cactus diversity, go there! Mexico has at least 560 described species of cacti Info primarily from "Cacti of Texas" by Powell, Weedin, and Powell #texas #westtexas #bigbend #bigbendnationalpark #nationalparks #nationalparksofamerica #chisos #nationalparksofinstagram #mountains #deserts #chihuahuandesert #cacti #cactusoftexas #cactusofinstagram #pricklypear #opuntia #opuntiaazura #purplishpricklypear #transpecos #cactaceae #nature #naturestudy #naturalhistory #mexico #northamerica #brewstercounty #botany #plants #plantsoftexas #plantsofinstagram
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