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Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
The most wide-ranging* cactus in the United States, Eastern Prickly-pear (formerly O. compressa) is found in scattered pockets from Massachusetts south to Florida and west to Montana and New Mexico as well as in Ontario, Canada. Though infrequent throughout Virginia, it is native to Fairfax County. Like many of its desert relatives, it is edible, but handle with care!
*It is common in the Coastal Plain of DE, scattered in Maryland, and rare in PA. It is infrequent throughout VA, although locally common in some areas.
Can you name the prickly parts of the prickly-pear?
Learn more about Opuntia humifusa and glochid and spine.