Opuntia Aurea

Opuntia aurea is similar to the more widespread opuntia basilaris; it is largely spineless, with just a few short (less than half an inch), white spines growing along the edges of the pads (one per areole), and bears brilliant pink or yellow flowers, up to 3 inches across, which appear between May and June; these are followed by spineless brownish-grey fruits. One way to distinguish the two species is the color of the stigma lobes; green for aurea, cream for basilaris.

Pads are greyish green in color and relatively small, no larger than 6 inches in diameter. The plant is found in a small area in the middle of the Colorado River drainage, in Mohave and Coconino counties of northwest Arizona, and Washington and Kane counties in south Utah.