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Photographer: Hugh H. Iltis
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Family Cactaceae
Opuntia macrorhiza Engelm.
plains prickly-pear, twist-spine prickly-pear
Opuntia: Greek name used by Pliny for a different plant which grew around the town of Opus in Greece
macrorhiza: with large roots or root stocks
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| Status: | Native |
| Plant: | prostrate/spreading/erect, perennial, spiny shrub forming mats up to 5' wide; stems joints very flat and difficult to detach, pads broadly oval |
| Flower: | yellow, sometimes with a red center, 7 or more-parted, up to 3" wide; blooms May-July |
| Fruit: | red-purple, fleshy, wingless, juicy, edible; seeds disc-like with rough, corky edges  |
| Leaf: | usually with several spines together |
| Habitat: | dry; prairies |
| (Glossary) |
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