Bunny Ears Cactus (Opuntia microdasys var. pallida)
Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is home to many animals, and we also cultivate plants from those animals’ habitats. You may see some of these plants in the animals” habitats or you can see them in our Victorian Greenhouse. Many of the plants are endangered, just like the animals.
DESCRIPTION: The Bunny Ears Cactus is a cactus that forms a dense shrub composed of green, pad-like stems. It grows up to 24 inches tall, occasionally more. Stems are up to 6 inches long and up to 5 inches wide. They have no spines but instead have numerous pale yellow glochids at each pale yellow areole. Flowers are up to 2 inches in diameter and have broad yellow tepals, yellow anthers, and dark green stigma lobes. They are followed by round to egg-shaped, up to 2 inches long, red to purplish, spineless but glochid-dotted fruits. RANGE: They are native to central and northern Mexico. |