Photo: CactiLegacy — CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Survives zone 4 through 9
Harvest calendar
Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.
Despite its name, the spirally twisted spines implied by "tortispina" are not actually characteristic of this species; it appears to be of hybrid origin between O. macrorhiza and O. polyacantha, showing intermediate traits from both parents. ⚠ Glochids.
- Hardiness
- Zone 4–9
- Habit
- Groundcover
- Edible part
- Seed, Fruit
- Ripens
- Late summer–autumn
- Mature size
- Low sprawling clumps 20–50 cm tall, to about 1.5 m across; excellent in containers
- Light
- Full sun (open-ground desert/glade)
- Soil pH
- 6.5–8.0 (neutral–alkaline, sharp drainage)
- Environment
- Temperate
- Native range
- Northern Mexico north to Colorado, Arizona, Texas, and Kansas, in sandy soils of mid-altitude woodlands and grasslands.
- Status
- Wild
- Years to fruit
- 2–3 yrs
- Growth speed
- Slow to moderate — a few new pads a season once established
- Spacing
- 90 cm (35 in) apart — about 1.2 per m² (1.1 per 10 sq ft)
- Leaf shape
- Obovate to long-obovate pads roughly 10–20 cm (4–8 in) long and 7–12 cm (2.75–4.75 in) wide, with areoles over most of the pad surface bearing typically 3–5 white-to-tan central spines.
- Root system
- Shallow and fibrous, with most of the root mass in the top 15 cm and spreading as far as 2.5 m from the plant within two seasons — a mat built to catch light rain before it evaporates rather than to reach deep water. It needs no soil depth, but it does need sharp drainage: standing wet in winter kills far more plants than cold does.
- Fruit description
- Fleshy reddish-purple fruit around 3–4 cm, edible after the glochids are brushed away; the twisted spines the name refers to are on the pads, not the fruit.
- Propagation
- Propagated from pad cuttings, calloused before rooting in gritty, well-drained soil, as with its parent species.
- Pollination
- Self-fertile
The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.
Growing guide
Fertilizing. Wants lean, sandy, fast-draining soil and little supplemental feeding, consistent with its Great Plains parentage.
How it spreads. Low, creeping, sprawling plant that seldom exceeds about 30 cm (12 in) tall.
Growing tips. Likely shares much of the cold-hardiness of its parent species (O. macrorhiza and O. polyacantha), both of which tolerate hard winters on the Great Plains; needs full sun and sharp drainage.
Grow journal
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