Specimen #73
Plains Prickly Pear
Opuntia polyacantha
Photo by me, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota
Here's another plant I found everywhere during my South Dakota trip. I hadn't seen grass and cacti mixed together until I got to the reservation. Prickly pears are native to North America. Many uses listed at this link: ethnobotany.
The entire plant forms a low, matted clump. I didn't see any fresh flowers, but if they were fresh and not dried up, from what I could tell, they would probably be yellow. Prickly pears come short and tall, singly and in large groups, but always in the pear shape. In _North American Wildlife_, size is listed from 4 - 12" tall, but I saw many shorter ones. Growing conditions are sun and dry land.
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