RHH's photos with the keyword: blind prickly pear

This magnificent specimen of Blind Prickly Pear was photographed near Boquillas Canyon in Big Bend National Park.

Hiking into Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park we saw a lot of these Prickly Pear cacti, the Blind Prickly Pear, this one growing in the rock cliffs. Opuntia rufida is one of three Prickly Pear species in the park and lacks the long spines of other species. Its tufts of hairy spines, however, are all the more troublesome as a result and have been known to blind cattle and thus its name.

This is the Blind Prickly Pear, a cactus we saw often as we hiked into Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park. Santa Elena Canyon is the canyon through which the Rio Grande flows on the border between Mexico and the Usa.

The Blind Prickly Pear cactus is so-named for its ability to blind cattle when they try to eat it. Its lack of longer spines attracts them and the short hairy spines (glochids) are the danger.

Photographed near the entrance to Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park, these Blind Prickly Pear cacti were everywhere.

Photographed on our hike to Burro Mesa, the cactus in front is a Blind Prickly Pear and the plant behind it is an Ocotillo. None of the cacti was saw were in flower, a bit of a disappointment.

The Blind Prickly Pear lacks the long spines of the other Prickly Pear species but is covered with the spiny hairs of the others. The plants in the background are Foothill Bear Grass. The photo was taken along the Pinnacles trail the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park.

On our hike to Balanced Rock, the first day of our stay in Big Bend National Park, we saw a lot of cacti and would see a lot more. There are three species of Prickly Pear in the park and we saw two of them on this hike, one featured here and another shown in the insets.