Beavertail Prickly-pear vs Jointed Pricklypear

Opuntia basilaris compared with Opuntia aurantiaca

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Beavertail Prickly-pear	Jointed Pricklypear
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class same	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order same	Caryophyllales (Caryophyllales)	Caryophyllales (Caryophyllales)
Family same	Cactaceae	Cactaceae
Genus same	Opuntia	Opuntia
Species	Opuntia basilaris	Opuntia aurantiaca

Evolutionary Relationship

Beavertail Prickly-pear and Jointed Pricklypear share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Opuntia.

Conservation Status

Beavertail Prickly-pear

LC — Least Concern

Jointed Pricklypear

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Beavertail Prickly-pear	Jointed Pricklypear
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Beavertail Prickly-pear

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Found in Taiwan.

Jointed Pricklypear

Habitat

Inhabits flooded grasslands and savannas and deserts and xeric shrublands within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Distributed across Australia, Eswatini, Jamaica, Namibia, and South Africa.

Beavertail Prickly-pear

The Beavertail Prickly-pear (Opuntia basilaris) is a species in the genus Opuntia. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.