Drooping Prickly-pear

Opuntia monacantha

In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in disturbed areas, sometimes persistent or escaping from horticultural use. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 41%

Light: Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture: Dry to moist

No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…

At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 1 Alabama county.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

6CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL

Genus host records with ranges including AL · Opuntia

Dicymolomia julianalisJulia's Dicymolomia
Homoeosoma electellaSunflower Moth
Laetilia coccidivoraScale-Feeding Snout
Melitara prodenialisEastern Cactus-Boring Moth, Eastern Blue Cactus Borer
Eurythmia hospitella
Menesta tortriciformella

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

—BeesSoutheastern regional records

5Specialist beesPollen specialists

Pollen specialists · Opuntia

Diadasia australis
Diadasia piercei
Lithurgopsis gibbosa
Lithurgopsis littoralis
Macrotera texana

Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

4BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Opuntia

Cardinalis cardinalisNorthern Cardinal
Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
Leptotila verreauxiWhite-tipped Dove
Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey

Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Cactaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope

Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia

Also known as

Drooping Prickly pear

Conservation status

Alabama rank	SNA
Global rank	GNR
AL status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

Native alternatives

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