Photographs of Big Bend National Park

Keywords: Big Bend National Park, Texas, cactus, cacti, Chihuahuan Desert plants, spines, pads

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Big Bend National Park > Cacti > Photographs

Opuntia engelmannii - Engelmann prickly pear, along the Marufo Vega Trail

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Also known as opuntia phaeacantha, this species produces some of the largest pads of any pricklypear plant, up to 12 inches long bearing neat clusters of short, thick, white spines that point downwards. The plants grow large, sometimes covering the ground for 20 feet or more, and is common all across the Big Bend region. Flowers are yellow, 3 to 4 inches across and have a distinctive green stamen at the center.

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