Another Santa Rita Cactus Flower

The Santa Rita cactus are native to the deserts of Arizona (especially here, in the valleys of the Santa Rita Mountains, their origin), New Mexico and California but have been used in landscaping and distributed world-wide because of of their fascinating color.

The stem pads are flattened, round, usually spineless, dotted with aureole glochids (sharp micro-spines), and blue-green, purple, or magenta in color. The stem pads turn a brighter purple color when stressed by cold or drought and are a green color when conditions are better.