Xerophyte, a photo by Fergiemoto on Flickr. (click on photo to enlarge)
Linking up with Our World Tuesday.
>>:::<<
Lovely luring blooms
thrust an agonizing bite
beautifully painful
>>:::<<
Xerophyte: a plant adapted for life and growth with a limited water supply; a desert plant (like cactus).
This plant is called Opuntia, or Prickly Pear, which is in the cactus family. They are low growing with red, purple or yellow flowers, and have two types of spines – large, smooth, fixed spines, and small bunches of hairlike prickles called glochids, which distinguish prickly pear from other cacti. This photo was taken last month along the La Sal Mountain Loop Road near Moab, Utah. In this area, the blooms occur in May and June.
This post is for the “X” Challenge by Frizztext (“X” is for Xerophyte)
Related articles:
- www.discovermoab.com – La Sal Mountain Loop Road
- www.desertusa.com – Prickly Pear
- www.moabadventurecenter.com – When The Cactus is in Bloom
- www.ut.nrcs.usda.gov – Desert Plants of Utah
Creativity Aroused 
I have never heard of this – best X ever!
Thank you! This “X” challenge was more difficult than the other letters.
super photo fergie, a perfect x!
Thank you! I like your “eXperiment.”
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Hi,
What a beautiful flower it produces, very nice.
Yes, but beware – big OUCH! Thanks Mags!
I used to see these when I worked in southwest Saskatchewan-they are beautiful. i like the composition and border.
Thank you Jane! Yes, the flowers are eye-catching!
What a unique creature. Nature things are amazing.
Aren’t they, though. They have their own protective mechanisms. Thank you!
Xerophyte:
a plant adapted for life and growth with a limited water supply;
a desert plant (like cactus).
+
thank you – and you could use this same photo for next Tuesday’s photo challenge “Y”, because your flower is yellow – so like the Xerophyte survives with one cup of water two weeks you could survive two weeks with one photo and poem!
Great shot. Fascinating. Thank you dear Fergie, have a nice day, love, nia
We have an expression to highlight true beauty where parhaps it is surrounded by lesser beauty. ” A Rose between two thorns”….seems appropiriate for your image
Yes, sweet and sour at the same time!
I’ve seen this Prickly Pear in Italy. It was huge.
Your photo looks wonderful.
Great X…I’m struggling with my X. And this photo is amazing.
What a beautiful flowering cactii!
“beautifully painful”, I can imagine! what a beautiful image…
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Oh wow, this is nice! Good to know the additional info as well. Beautiful.
Great choice for x! I like the yellow color.
Great choice for X!
Very pretty!
A splendid photo. You highlighted the wonderful yellow boom.
This struck a chord with me – just love the haiku paired with this image. beautiful!
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“beautifully painful”…I agree. 🙂 Lovely shot!
Lovely shot of this prickly pear. I’ve photographed them several times in the Botanic Gardens about 10 mins walk from my home and can attest to their painful ‘bite’.
I got some nice photos of these at San Gabriel river in Azusa: lovely flowers:
Thanks for the description!
Prickly beauty! Great shot and very interesting.