Plant Finder

Other Names:  O. cacanapa Ellisiana

Description:

This edible plant has oval, gray-green pads that are blushed with purple; vibrant yellow flowers in spring; nearly spineless, but handle pads carefully; no glochids on the pads

Ornamental Features

Tiger Tongue Prickly Pear Cactus features showy yellow flowers with orange overtones at the ends of the stems in mid summer. Its attractive succulent oval leaves remain grayish green in color throughout the year. The fruit is not ornamentally significant.

Landscape Attributes

Tiger Tongue Prickly Pear Cactus is an herbaceous evergreen perennial with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other garden plants with finer foliage.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should never be pruned except to remove any dieback, as it tends not to take pruning well. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Spiny

Tiger Tongue Prickly Pear Cactus is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• General Garden Use
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Tiger Tongue Prickly Pear Cactus will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 6 feet. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 5 years.

This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It requires an extremely dry, well-drained growing location, and will usually die in standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in sandy soils. It is quite intolerant of urban pollution, therefore inner city or urban streetside plantings are best avoided. This species is native to parts of North America.

Tiger Tongue Prickly Pear Cactus is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.