Brush - Range & Pasture - Pricklypear Cactus

BES-TEX BRUSH ID GUIDE

Pricklypear Cactus

Pricklypear, Prickly Pear

Opuntia spp.

Perennial Cactus

Plant Type

Cactus with flat, jointed pads; cactus family (Cactaceae)

Life Cycle

Perennial

Leaf Habit

Evergreen pads (true leaves tiny and short-lived)

Typical Height

[PLACEHOLDER]

Photo Gallery

Pricklypear cactus clump of flat, round, spiny pads — **Whole Plant** Photo: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Yellow pricklypear flower on a pad with clusters of long yellow spines — **Flower and Spines** Photo: Fawaz.tairou, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to Identify It

Quick ID

Pads

Jointed, flattened, fleshy stems called pads
Pads store water and carry on photosynthesis (Texas A&M)

Leaves & Spines

True leaves are tiny and appear only briefly at spine clusters on new pads (Texas A&M)

Spread

Each broken pad can root and form a new plant
Shredding spreads it and increases density (Texas A&M)

Fruit

Fruits called tunas, eaten by many animals that spread the seed (Texas A&M)

Look-Alikes

Tasajillo

Tasajillo has round, pencil-thin jointed stems with segments mostly 1 inch or less, not flat pads (Texas A&M)

Counter script: "If it is a cactus made of flat, fleshy, jointed pads with spine clusters, it is pricklypear."

Where It Grows

Texas

Grows throughout the Texas ecoregions (Texas A&M)

Oklahoma

[PLACEHOLDER]

New Mexico

[PLACEHOLDER]

Sites and soils: From dry gravel or rocky, shallow soils to heavy, deep clay soils; a common invader of grasslands and shrublands (Texas A&M).

Best Time to Control

Brush Busters: pad sprays can be applied any time of year when there is soil moisture. The Surmount label notes fall is best and that full kill can take 2 to 3 years.

Pricklypear is a perennial. No pre-emergent herbicide controls pricklypear.

Treatment Methods

Foliar (Pad) Spray

Spray to wet all pads (Brush Busters)
Example products: PastureGard HL or Surmount (Corteva)
Mix (Brush Busters): 1% (1.28 oz per gallon of water) + surfactant 1/4% + marker dye
Surmount label individual-plant rate: 0.5 to 1% with surfactant

Mechanical (Top Removal)

Cut the root 2 to 4 inches below the soil surface and remove the plant (Brush Busters)
Do not leave pads on the ground; they can re-root

Individual Plant vs. Broadcast

Brush Busters pad spray is for individual plants
Surmount is labeled for broadcast on pricklypear; follow the label

Product names are examples only. Always read and follow the product label. For product selection and help, contact BES-TEX at 325.653.1300.

Sources: Brush Busters: How to Control Prickly Pear (Texas A&M AgriLife) for the PastureGard HL and Surmount mix; Surmount label, EPA Reg. No. 62719-480; PastureGard HL label, EPA Reg. No. 62719-637; Texas A&M Plants of Texas Rangelands.