Opuntia (Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea x aurea)

Opuntia
Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea x aurea

Magenta variant through introgression; seen along the Pa'rus Trail, Zion National Park, UT

I would consider this a 'normal' Opuntia basilaris.

Jordi

an expert in rare Utah flora identified this specimen for me. You can find our conversation here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36459782@N00/5744806730/

So it's definitely a hybrid (not only because of the flower color but also because of the very large and green pads) and should not be mentioned in this entry therefore.

Jordi

In the original post of the image, Dicentra63 mentioned "introgression" and never presented this plant as anything other than what it is. If it is a hybrid, it's clearly naturally occuring within the normal O. aurea range and was identified as O. aurea with some possible O. polyacantha influences by an expert in Utah flora. Introgression implies diluted hybridization, and is a natural occurance in many plant species, but does not make these plants no longer a part of their species. This is clearly a VERSION of O. aurea as it is found within its natural range.

I "do" see a very few white spines on some of the pads that are from the O. polyacantha parent.
I am in agreement with all of you that this is "to some degree" a hybrid through introgression, meaning it is not a "Pure" O. aurea.
We do have a separate entry page for O. aurea x polyacantha var. erinacea. And we can reserve this entry page for the "purebred" O. aurea.
Here it is: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/197631/

Further reading:
http://opuntiads.com/html/opuntia-aurea.html
http://www.opuntiads.com/polyxaurea/polyxaurea-sw-utah.html
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242415219
http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Opuntia+aurea&guide=Opuntia

Xeno.

Thanks for your suggestion, Xeno. I hope they'll accept it.

Jordi

dicentra63,
When did you see this blooming?
~Mid Spring
~Late Spring/Early Summer
~Mid Summer

(needed info for filling in the details on the hybrid page)

Xeno.

The Flickr photo caption says:
"This photo was taken on May 19, 2011 in Utah, US, using a Canon PowerShot SX110 IS"

And Tony Frates says in their conversation that "This is a very odd and late (by as much as four weeks) year (last year was also late/wet just not as pronounced) so can't really say about bloom times which are obviously also highly tied to elevation and other factors that vary from year to year."

Sounds like normal bloom time is early Spring.

I shot the photo on May 19th 2011, at Zion National Park, location approximately (37.219649 LAT, -112.973935 LON).

However, a cool, wet spring this year set everything back by 3-4 weeks. The day I took this photo it was rainy and in the 50s, very unusual for this elevation and latitude (~3900 ft).