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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Opuntia fragilis
brittle prickly-pear cactus

 
Scientific Name: Opuntia fragilis (Nutt.) Haw.
English Name: brittle prickly-pear cactus
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vascular Plant
Species Code: OPUNFRA
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Plantae Anthophyta Dicotyledoneae Caryophyllales Cactaceae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (May 2016)
Provincial Status: S5 (Apr 2019)
BC List: Yellow
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 4 - Secure (2010)
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Technical Description:
Similar Species:
Global Reproduction Comments: This Opuntia mainly reproduces asexually by detachment of its stems or cladode. In O.fragilis terminal stem segments break off easily from the parent plant and and take-root producing clonal individuals (Rebman and Pinkava 2001). This species is also believed to be dispersed by bison (Valiente-Banuet and Godinez-Alvarez 2002).
Global Ecology Comments: It is extremely cold tolerant, growing in Canada almost to the arctic circle (Weniger 1970). Species is fire adapted sprouting from root crown and layering from pads bureied in substrate protected from fire (Taylor, 2005).
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence)
Global Habitat Comments: Sandy, gravelly, or rocky soils of valleys, low hills, or mountainsides mostly in the desert, plains.
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Elevation (m) (min / max): Provincial: 
Known Pests:
Pollen Vector:
Pollinator:
Dispersal: ABIOTIC
BIOTIC
Self-dispersing
   
 
Provincial Inventory
Inventory Priority:
Ownership of occurrences (Known locations):
Inventory Need:
 
Economic Attributes
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: British Columbia, to W. Manitoba; near Kaladar, Ontario; Washington, Michigan, Illinois, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Dakotas.
Disjunct, more common elsewhere:
Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere:
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author:
Last Updated:
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
Last Literature Search:
   
References and Related Literature
Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2003b. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 4, Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, part 1. Oxford University Press, New York. xxiv + 559 pp.
Rebman, J.P. and D. Pinkava. 2001. Opuntia cacti of North America: an overview. Florida Entomologist 84(4): 474-483.
Taylor, J. E. 2005. Opuntia fragilis. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2011, April 25].
Valiente-Banuet, A., and H. Godinez-Alvarez. 2002. Population and Community Ecology. Pages 91-108. in: P. Nobel, editor. Cacti: Biology and Uses. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.
Weniger, D. 1970. Cacti of the Southwest: Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. University of Texas Press: Austin, Texas. 249 pp. + 64 pls.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. Species Summary: Opuntia fragilis. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jan 22, 2025).