Native records: 7 botanical areas
Arizona, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, 4 more areas
See all areasNatural distribution
Explore mapNativeIntroducedUncertain
Distribution is shown as WGSRPD Level 3 areas. It does not imply the species occurs throughout an entire area.
Last updated:
Distribution last verified:
A succulent shrub of desert or dry shrubland climates. Native to United States, Mexico.
This entry carries only the classification and distribution data recorded in WCVP. A written account is not yet available.
Distribution areas
Mexico
- Mexico NortheastNative
- Mexico NorthwestNative
United States of America
- ArizonaNative
- NevadaNative
- New MexicoNative
- OklahomaNative
- TexasNative
Climate of the native range
The Köppen climate classes found in the areas this plant is recorded as native to. It does not mean an entire area has that climate.
- Cfa Temperate, no dry season, hot summer
- BSk Arid, steppe, cold
- BWh Arid, desert, hot
- BSh Arid, steppe, hot
- BWk Arid, desert, cold
- Dfb Cold, no dry season, warm summer
- Cwb Temperate, dry winter, warm summer
The same climate occurs in 136 areas worldwide, 129 of which have no record of this plant. See them on the map
A matching climate does not mean the plant can grow there. Range limits are also set by things other than climate — dispersal history, soils, competition. Source: Beck et al. (2023), CC BY 4.0 (observed period 1991–2020).
Other names
Western Pricklypear、western prickly-pear
- Family
- Cactaceae
- Genus
- Opuntia
Other species in Opuntia
- Opuntia microdasysBunny ears cactus
- Opuntia militaris
- Opuntia monacanthaCommon Pricklypear
- Opuntia nemoralisOuachita Mountains pricklypear
- Opuntia nicholii
- Opuntia ochrocentra
- Opuntia oricolaChaparral Prickly-pear
- Opuntia pachyrrhiza
- Opuntia parviclada
- Opuntia perotensis
- Opuntia phaeacanthaBrown-spined Prickly-pear
- Opuntia pilifera
Sources
World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), version 2026-06-04
Mexico · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew · wcvp_distribution.csv
Open sourceWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), version 2026-06-04
United States of America · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew · wcvp_distribution.csv
Open source
Image information
Photograph of Opuntia orbiculata
Michael Wolf ( Webseite ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · File page