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This species is as hardy as O. Rafinesquii, and thrives under similar treatment. It has stood 22 degs. of frost without suffering, requiring only protection from rain in winter. In North America it forms large, spreading masses on gravelly hillsides, and is much dreaded by travellers, and especially by horses; there it is usually covered with snow from Christmas to the following May.
There are a few exceptions to this in such species as O. Rafinesquii, O. missouriensis, and O. basilaris, which are compact and dwarf, and bear numerous large, brightly-coloured flowers. The fruits of Opuntias, or, at least, some of them, are edible, and to some palates they are very agreeable.
In habit and flowers this kind resembles O. Rafinesquii; and if not quite hardy in England, it is nevertheless sufficiently so to thrive in any sunny position where it would be protected from frost and excessive wet. The accompanying illustrations represent the characters of this species so well that further description is not needed. The flowers are developed in early summer.
Treated in this manner, the following hardy species could not fail to be a success: Opuntia Rafinesquii and var. arkansana, O. vulgaris, O. brachyarthra, O. Picolominiana, O. missouriensis, O. humilis, Cereus Fendleri, C. Engelmanni, C. gonacanthus, C. phoeniceus, Echinocactus Simpsoni, E. Pentlandii, Mamillaria vivipara.
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