PRICKLY PEAR
The purple colour of this prickly pear (possibly Opuntia violacea) is produced in response to drought or cold conditions. The plant is growing in a thornscrub-desert grassland transition zone at relatively high altitude in the Chihuahuan Desert of Southwestern Texas. One of the "crucifixion thorns" is growing nearby. The tree on the horizon (right-hand side) is nearly dead; the growth that we can see is a mass of branches of the broad-leaved mistletoe which killed the tree. Go to
Cactus gallery? |
