Opuntia microdasys
Common: Bunny ears, Rabbit ears, Prickly pear
Family: Cactaceae
Sunset Zone: 12-24
Origin: Native to Mexico
Light: Partial, full or reflected sun
Soil: All soil types
Water: Little or no water once established. Best with periodic irrigation.
Good for low fences or specimens.
Freely clustering succulent with miniature pads. Pads flat, thin, nearly round, to 6 in. across. It has no spines, but instead has numerous white or yellow hair-like glochids 2-3 mm long in dense clusters.
Grows quickly to 2 -3 ft. high, 4-5 ft. wide.
Velvety soft green pads with neatly spaced tufts of short golden bristles in polka dot pattern.
Yellow flowers in spring or early summer.
Small round new pads atop larger old ones give plant silhouette of animal's head.
A favorite with children.
Decorative, but deadly to touch or handle.
The very closely related Opuntia rufida differs in having reddish-brown glochids; it occurs further north in northern Mexico, and into western Texas. Some botanists treat the two as a single species.