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, 12:49, 23 February 2010
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Opuntia spinosior, Tourney. A small tree, 6-12 ft. high, with numerous verticillate branches, forming a rounded head, the cylindrical trunk usually branching a few feet above the ground, and with rough, dark brown or grayish unarmed bark: joints verticillate and pendulous, ultimate ones usually 4-8 in. long and about 1 in. thick, dark green, frequently more or less purplish, with short, crowded rhombic tubercles: areoles with white to reddish brown wool and usually few, small, variously colored bristles; spines 10-30, increasing in number yearly as the joints become older until finally deciduous, short, and rarely conspicuously sheathed, usually ½-¾ in. long: fls. showy, bright to dark purple, 2-2½ in. wide, in whorls at the ends of the joints: fr. elliptical to oblong, rarely obovate to globose, 1½-2½ in. long, yellow, frequently remaining on the stems during the second year. Ariz., N. Mex.
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