Käyttäjän davidferguson havainnot

The population at Sweetwater is an outlier, isolated from they main distribution of the species to the west by perhaps over 100 miles. At Sweetwater it grows sympatrically with O. orbiculata and O. lindheimeri, and perhaps some other close relatives, yet it remains totally distinct and easily distinguishable.

The plant in the first photo is a young but mature one, about 4 ft. in height (in the photo it looks smaller than it is). The adjacent plant in the next to last photo (possibly the same clone) is about 5 ft. tall.

An extra-spiny variant found in the El Paso / Juarez area that may deserve varietal distinction. Sometimes confused with O. polyacantha.

Last two photos are flowers on cutting, photographed 5-17-22

An extra-spiny variant found in the El Paso / Juarez area that may deserve varietal distinction.

Fruits, all from one plant, showing some of the variation possible even on one individual in one season.

The "x" should go from the name.

There are more than one specimen included here to show some of the diversity in the immediate population.

Stem segments here run about 2 inches, Flowers about 2 to 3 inches across (depending some on how widely open they are, and how much rainfall has occured prior to flowering).

O. debreczyi growing sympatrically with O. polyacantha scwheriniana. These are the only two Opuntia taxa in this area, and easily distinguishable. Related O. fragilis occurs not far away, but is not here.

In the second photo, O. debreczyi is to the left, and O. polyacantha schweriniana is to the right. They are similar in size; both are dwarf with cladodes only about 1.5 inches long on average (normally not over 2 inches).

The "x" does not belong on the species name here. O. debreczyi is a wide-ranging, common, and distinct species, not a local hybrid that pops up occasionally.

Opuntia polyacantha schweriniana and O. debreczyi grow together in this area, and are immediately distinguishable at a glance. However, both have varied flower color, and both are dwarf in size (stem segments mostly under 2 inches long).

For comparison, this observation includes more than one individual growing within the same local population.

In 2011, this was still wild habitat. Now in 2022, there are no cacti in this exact location anymore, but they probably still exist nearby.

The flower photo (same plant) was taken on May 16, and added here to show it along with the other photos.

The fruits showing are old and abnormal, probably with no seeds inside, but still give some idea of how good fruits would look.

This is a distinctive, rare, and likely critically endangered species. However, it has existed "off the radar" since its original description in 1914 by David Griffiths.

Visually (especially in photographs), on one hand, O. rugosa appears similar to true O. littoralis (from nearer the coast). However, O. rugosa is a relatively small, low spreading plant, while O. littoralis is a much larger, more upright shrubby plant. On the other hand, it shows strong similarities to the O. phaeacantha group of species.

O. rugosa has survived near-zero F temperatures under cultivation in New Mexico, while in my experience, O. littoralis is not particularly freeze tolerant and is generally damaged if frozen, and killed at around 15 to 20F.

Other species of Opuntia found growing in the Pamona / San Dimas / Covina area include O. oricola, occidentalis, semispinosa, covillei, vaseyi, basilaris, and an unnamed species (related to O. phaeacantha that is often misidentified as O. covillei). All of them seem to still be more abundant and wide-spread than is O. rugosa.

@jazzari

Lovely colored flowers on plants in this area, but I keep missing them when the flowers are fully open.

This was an off-season flowering, triggered by excessive rains following 13 months with no rain at all. Normally flowering is in mid May in this location.

Two males were watched here, but I only got photos of one. They were defending territories from one-another and several other butterflies (and my camera); including Papilio multicaudata and Vanessa cardui.

This one was using a Callirhoe involucrata plant as a perch, the other was using a perch across the path about 5 ft. up on a Mahonia trifoliata bush.

Trimerotropis saxatilis as found along the base of the Front Range in Colorado. The first shot is a comparison of females of T. saxatilis with T. pallidipennis, but caught at the same time in the same location. T. saxatilis excape flights are usually relatively short, and they often curve back on themselves; they nearly always land back on the rocks. T. pallidipennis (females especially) will generally take longer more direct flights and will land on any open substrate, caring not if it is on the rocks or on some patch of dirt or pavement.

The bodies of these two are approximately the same size, but the pronotum is proportionately shorter on T. saxatilis and the wings shorter and proportionately shorter, with a dark band that often doesn't follow the outer margin as far and is often wider, and the disk of the wing usually richer in color.

The last two photos are a different individual than the previous ones.