Blind Pricklypear vs Marble-fruit Prickly-pear

Opuntia rufida compared with Opuntia strigil

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Blind Pricklypear	Marble-fruit Prickly-pear
Kingdom same	Plantae (plantas)	Plantae (plantas)
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 rufida	Opuntia strigil

Evolutionary Relationship

Blind Pricklypear and Marble-fruit Prickly-pear share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Opuntia.

Conservation Status

Blind Pricklypear

LC — Least Concern

Marble-fruit Prickly-pear

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Blind Pricklypear	Marble-fruit Prickly-pear
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Blind Pricklypear

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, flooded grasslands and savannas, and deserts and xeric shrublands within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Found in Namibia.

Marble-fruit Prickly-pear

Habitat

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

Blind Pricklypear

The Blind Pricklypear (Opuntia rufida) is a species in the genus Opuntia. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, flooded grasslands and savannas, and deserts and xeric shrublands within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.