Prickly Pear

About this plant

Prickly pears are low-growing cacti with flat, paddle-shaped pads. They are common throughout the Sonoran Desert and provide food and shelter for wildlife. Many species produce edible fruits known as tunas and tender young pads called nopales.

Photo gallery

Budding prickly pear

A prickly pear pad with fresh new buds forming along the edges, showing early-season growth in the desert light.

Prickly pear by the water

A prickly pear growing near the edge of a desert lake, with saguaros and rocky hills in the distance.

Mature prickly pear patch

A wide, mature stand of prickly pear pads spreading across the rocky slope, forming a dense thicket.

Prickly pear at dawn

Soft morning light catches a stand of prickly pear along a sandy wash, with long shadows stretching across the trail.

Close-up of prickly pear fruits

A close look at ripe, magenta prickly pear fruits clustered along the pad, ready for wildlife and traditional harvest.

Prickly pear growing on a tree

A prickly pear cactus rooted in the crook of a tree trunk, using the tree for support high above the ground.

Young prickly pear sprouts

Small prickly pear pads emerging near a rocky trail, showing how easily this cactus spreads in disturbed soil.

Wild prickly pear in open desert

A naturally growing prickly pear surrounded by open desert scrub and sandy washes, typical of Sonoran foothills habitat.