Opuntia Species, Prickly Pear Cactus, Bakersfield Beavertail Prickly Pear

According to the Endangered Species Recovery Program of California.

BAKERSFIELD CACTUS: Identification.

Th...Read Moree pads vary in outline from rounded, hart-shaped, or diamond-shaped to nearly cylindrical. A single plant may consist of hundreds of pads, which originate both at ground level and from the tips of other pads. The pads and fruits are dotted with eye-spots, the flowers are megenta, the dry fruits are the size and shape of small eegs and may contain grayish-white seeds.

It is unique among the varieties of O. basilaris in that the eye-spots contain spines in addition to the bristles. Other features that differentiate it from related beavertial cacti include the smooth pad surfaces, cylindrical pad bases, nonsunken eye-spots, an longer (up to 5 millimeters [0.2 inch]) leaves, not the pad.

The two varieties of O. treleasei differ from each other in that variety treleasei has spines less then 7 millimeters (0.3 inch) long (which may be longer or shorter then the associated bristles) and eye-spots even with the pad surface, whereas variety kernii has spines longer then 7 millimeters (0.3 inch) and raised eye-spots.

The two varieties are as follows;

Opuntia basilaris ssp. treleasei var. treleasei (No Spines)
syn. Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei
syn. Opuntia treleasei var. treleasei

and

Opuntia basilaris ssp. treleasei var. kernii (Spines)
syn. Opuntia basilaris var. kernii
syn. Opuntia treleasei var. kernii