Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Small

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate grassland

Range

North America

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Spines

Status

Uncommon

About

This low-growing cactus spreads across sandy soils throughout eastern North America. Its barbed glochids detach upon contact to lodge firmly into the skin of any passing animal.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Caryophyllales

Family

Cactaceae

Genus

Opuntia

Species

Opuntia humifusa