Opuntia cespitosa

Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Family:	CACTACEAE
Species:	Opuntia cespitosa Raf.
Common Name:	Red-flowered Prickly Pear
Habitat:	Prairies (Blackland or riverine sand) or glade/outcrops (limestone, mafic granite, or less commonly sandstone).
Associated Ecological Communities:	**
Growth Habit:	Shrub
Duration:	Perennial
Category:	Vascular
USDA Symbol:	**
Plant Notes:	Our only Opuntia with a prominent reddish orange center in the flower. Other species are more or less solid yellow.
Taxonomic Notes:	For many decades, most Alabama native Opuntia were identified as O. pusilla [=drummondii] or O. humifusa. Maclure et al (2017) found that most of the Alabama "humifusa" determinations were in fact O. mesacantha (both subsp.) or O. cespitosa. While Maclure et al did not see any true O. humifusa specimens from Alabama in their study, that taxon is to be expected be part of the flora but less common that O. mesacantha and O. cespitosa. All older herbarium specimens previously identified as O. humifusa should be reevaluated and placed accordingly. Additionally, previous iterations of APA misapplied O. macrorhiza Engelm. to this species. Specimens below identified as such should be reevaluated.
Status:	Native
References:	[1] Majure, L.C., W.S. Judd, P.S. Soltis, and D.E. Soltis. 2017. Taxonomic revision of the Opuntia humifusa complex (Opuntieae: Cactaceae) of the eastern United States. Phytotaxa 290 (1): 001-065. [2] Majure, L.C. 2014. Typifications and a nomenclatural change in some eastern North American Opuntia (Cactaceae). Phytoneuron 2014-106: 1–2.
Specimen:	View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

Family	CACTACEAE - Cactus family
Genus	Opuntia
Species	Opuntia cespitosa Raf. - Red-flowered Prickly Pear

Citation

Citation	Opuntia cespitosa Raf., Ser. Bull. Bot. 216. 1830.
Basionym:	**
Type:	USA: KENTUCKY: Woodford County, Hwy. 60 N at jct. of Hwy. 62; just N of Versailes, 09 Jun 2008, Majure 3275 (neotype: FLAS-235446; isoneotype: NY). Neotypification by Majure, Phytoneuron 2014 (106): 1. 2014.

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

Synonym	Full Citation	Basionym	Type
Opuntia compressa var. microsperma	Opuntia compressa J. F. Macbride, var. microsperma (Engelmann) L. D. Benson, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 4. 25: 250. 1944.	Opuntia rafinesquei Engelmann, var. microsperma Engelmann 1856.
Opuntia humifusa subsp. minor	Opuntia humifusa (Raf.) Raf., Med. Fl. 2: 247. 1830.	Opuntia rafinesquei Engelmann, var. minor Engelmann 1857.
Opuntia humifusa var. microsperma	Opuntia humifusa (Rafinesque) Rafinesque, var. microsperma (Engelmann) A. Heller, Cat. N. Amer. Pl., ed. 2. 8. 1900.	Opuntia rafinesquei Engelmann, var. microsperma Engelmann 1856.
Opuntia humifusa var. parva	Opuntia humifusa (Rafinesque) Rafinesque, var. parva A. Heller, Cat. N. Amer. Pl., ed. 2. 8. 1900, nom. illegit.	Opuntia mesacantha Rafinesque, var. parva J. M. Coulter 1896, nom. illegit.; Opuntia rafinesquei Engelmann, var. minor Engelmann 1857.
Opuntia mesacantha var. microsperma	Opuntia mesacantha Rafinesque, var. microsperma (Engelmann) J. M. Coulter, Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 3: 429. 1896.	Opuntia rafinesquei Engelmann, var. microsperma Engelmann 1856.
Opuntia mesacantha var. parva	Opuntia mesacantha Rafinesque, var. parva J. M. Coulter, Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 3: 429. 1896, nom. illegit.	Opuntia rafinesquei Engelmann, var. minor Engelmann 1857.
Opuntia rafinesquei var. microsperma	Opuntia rafinesquei Engelmann, var. microsperma Engelmann, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 3: 295. 1856.		Cult. in St. Louis, Apr. 1854, Engelmann (?) s.n. (holotype: MO).
Opuntia rafinesquei var. minor	Opuntia rafinesquei Engelmann, var. minor Engelmann, in Engelmann & J. M. Bigelow, Rep. Expl. Surv. Pacific Ocean, Botany 55, pl. 11(1). 1857.		MISSOURI: Madison Co.: Mine la Motte, Nov 1845, Engelmann s.n. (lectotype: MO). Lectotypified by J. M. Coulter, Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 3: 429. 1896.
Opuntia rafinesquei var. parva	Opuntia rafinesquei Engelmann, var. parva J. N. Haage & E. Schmidt, Verz. Blumenzwiebeln 1915: 29. 1915, nom. illegit.	Opuntia mesacantha Rafinesque, var. parva J. M. Coulter 1896, nom. illegit.; Opuntia rafinesquei Engelmann, var. minor Engelmann 1857.

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Bibb, Blount, Colbert, Crenshaw, Franklin, Jackson, Macon, Marshall, Morgan, Randolph

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AMAL, TROY, UNA, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 2019 - 2020

Barcode / Accession No.	County	Coll. Date	Collector & Collection No.	Herbarium & Herbarium Name Used
ALNHS00005316	Crenshaw	09 May 2017	Barger, T. Wayne SP#3230	ALNHS Opuntia cespitosa Raf.
ALNHS00001094	Jackson	10 May 2012	Barger, T. Wayne SP#483	ALNHS Opuntia cespitosa Raf.
UWAL0036491	Franklin	11 May 2017	England, J. Kevin 7733	UWAL Opuntia cespitosa Rafinesque
ALNHS00004793	Randolph	25 May 2017	Barger, T. Wayne SP#3215	ALNHS Opuntia cespitosa Raf.
ALNHS00001026	Jackson	10 May 2012	Barger, T. Wayne SP#484	ALNHS Opuntia cespitosa Raf.
UNA00054171	Blount	12 Oct 1998	Keener, Brian R. 1739	UNA Opuntia cespitosa Raf
UNA00060655	Marshall	09 Apr 1966	Brown, Donald H. 7	UNA Opuntia cespitosa Raf
TROY000017296	Morgan	6 Jul 2003	Spaulding, Daniel D. 11977	TROY Opuntia cespitosa Rafinesque
UWAL0056196	Morgan	04 Jun 2020	England, Kevin J. 11057	UWAL Opuntia cespitosa Rafinesque
UWAL0057257	Bibb	17 May 2019	Keener, Brian R. 11149	UWAL Opuntia cespitosa Raf.
AMAL00006148	Colbert	15 Apr 1996	Spaulding, Daniel D. 8786	AMAL Opuntia cespitosa Rafinesque
UNA00063001	Morgan	06 Jul 2003	Spaulding, Daniel D. 11977	UNA Opuntia cespitosa Raf
ALNHS00001096	Macon	02 May 2012	Barger, T. Wayne SP#485	ALNHS Opuntia cespitosa Raf.
AMAL00008592	Morgan	06 Jul 2003	Spaulding, Daniel D. 11977	AMAL Opuntia cespitosa Rafinesque

View a List of All Ecological Communities

For more information, contact: Brian R. Keener, Ph.D.

Data last modified: 9/19/2025

Web Development: The Florida Center for Community Design + Research

A member of the University of South Florida family of PlantAtlas.org sites

Citation Information:

Keener, B.R., A.R. Diamond, T.W. Barger, L.J. Davenport, P.G. Davison, S.L. Ginzbarg, C.J. Hansen, D.D. Spaulding, J.K. Triplett, and M. Woods. 2025. Alabama Plant Atlas. [S.M. Landry and K.N. Campbell (original application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research. University of South Florida]. University of West Alabama, Livingston, Alabama.

Data, text, and images licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Opuntia cespitosa

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Classification

Citation

Synonyms

Specimens and Distribution