A trio of Opuntias...

G'day guys...

I've got three more plants for ID here.

This first one came from Collector's Corner, and stands maybe 8 inches tall. It was helpfully tagged "Opuntia"...




I bought this one at the Mornington market a while ago. It stands around a foot tall, and has only the occasional single glochid.




This last one I found dumped as green waste... I'm guessing it's some sort of noxious weed. It certainly grows like a weed, and stands about 18 inches tall.




Any ideas?

Hi Lachy

i have one very similar to the first picture and it was ID'd as opuntia prolifera.

regards
Darren

#2 and #3 look the same...
O.monacantha aka vulgaris.
just at different stages of development.
scooby may correct me.
Oh and you are correct it actually is a noxious weed in these parts LOL.
I've seen it growing wild along Melb trainlines.

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Oh and you are correct it actually is a noxious weed in these parts LOL.

Oh, lovely. I'm cultivating an ecological disaster... and I was going to stick a photo of it in the "unkillables" thread as it seemed to be a pretty hardy plant.

It's quite interesting if #2 and 3 are the same species. The general structure is the same, but when looked at up close the morphology is actually quite different; #3 has inch-long spines and some glochids and grows extremely fast. #2, on the other hand, is relatively slow growing and has no spines and only the occasional glochid. The pads are also much smaller.

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It's quite interesting if #2 and 3 are the same species. The general structure is the same, but when looked at up close the morphology is actually quite different; #3 has inch-long spines and some glochids and grows extremely fast. #2, on the other hand, is relatively slow growing and has no spines and only the occasional glochid. The pads are also much smaller.

Hmm yeah I see what you mean, I could well be wrong mate...
scooby seems to be in the know about Opuntoids so he should chime in and provide a more accurate identification

I've posted this over at Cactiguide, and the consensus does seem to be that both are O. monacantha. The giveaway is supposed to be the elongated, indeterminate pad growth and the little red "leaves".

If this is the case, that makes three different varieties of monacantha that I have growing in my collection, as I also have a variegated monstrose form as well. Three kinds of noxious weed!