Engelmann’s Prickly Pear is a large spreading shrub six to twelve feet in diameter growing to five feet in height, with distinctive “pancakelike” greenish joints, about the size of a medium-sized meat platter, but somewhat elliptical and ascending from the base. The general color of this plant is greenish. Its spicules are abundant in fringes along the joints, colored orange-yellow or brownish, while the four spines are awl-shaped with purplish and tawny yellow bodies, and slightly banded. The brilliant satiny yellow flowers are large and very showy. They have the curious characteristic of changing to orange in the afternoon and orange-red in the evening, and are a little less than five inches in width and length. The plant blossoms in May and June, and the pear-shaped purple fruit comes in July. How to grow Treat cuttings in all respects as _Opuntia discata_. _Engelmannii_ are not injured by zero temperatures. Long Spined Prickly Pear (_Opuntia macrocentra_) (The name _macrocentra_ refers to the long spines) How to identify and how it grows The Long Spined Prickly Pear is a plant about three feet tall growing from stems which ascend from the base. These joints are about the size of a man’s hand, circular or egg-shaped, and are of a dull olive-green suffused with purple, sometimes purple throughout. This plant has a system of spicules and spines arranged much in the usual cactus fashion. The spicules are formed in bundles, generally crescent-shaped and red-brown or tawny. The young spines are a deep red-purple, while the older spines are often cross-banded, purple-brown, reddish, or nearly black, three inches long, or longer, fierce and needlelike and sometimes twisted. The flowers, about three inches long and broad, are yellow with bright red or orange-red centers which make them quite attractive. The pink-purple fruit is elliptical and comes in July; the fruit-meat is light greenish. How to grow Plants may be grown in zero temperatures without injury, and thrive outdoors or indoors. They grow easily from mature cuttings set out at almost any time, but preferably early in spring; the cut should be allowed to callus over before planting. They should be watered once a month or so during the growing season to keep the soil slightly moist. Gravelly clay soils are preferred, though the plants grow well in sandy clay or loam. Beaver Tail (_Opuntia basilaris_) How to identify and how it grows