Leighton Photography & Imaging

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  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • This natural hybrid (Opuntia engelmannii x phaecantha) of two common and local prickly pear cacti - the Engelmann's Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii) and the brown-spined prickly pear (Opuntia phaecantha),  shows characteristics of both and have resulted in a large, mature beautiful cactus growing at some elevation in the Ajo Mountains in Southern Arizona. Since so many of our native members of the Opuntia genus are so closely related and have overlapping natural ranges, hybridization is common among many species, and is the source of much confusion and frustration for biologist and naturalist alike! This particular plant has the beautiful silvery white spines and flower petal shape of O. engelmannii and the flower coloration and growth pattern of O. phaecantha.
    Natural Prickly Pear Hybrid
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • This great find in a purplish prickly pear cactus flower (Opuntia azurea) in Big Bend National Park in West Texas was an exciting one for me. This bee assassin bug is a clever hunter of bees and other pollinating insects found throughout much of North America. It is most often found inside flowers waiting to stab the unsuspecting insect attracted to the flower's sweet nectar with its sharp proboscis, where it will literally drink its prey dry. Even though this one is covered in pollen, you can still see the warning colors of black and red (aposematic coloration) warning birds and other predators that this bug is not safe to eat or hunt.
    Bee Assassin on Purplish Prickly Pear
  • This natural hybrid (Opuntia engelmannii x phaecantha) of two common and local prickly pear cacti - the Engelmann's Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii) and the brown-spined prickly pear (Opuntia phaecantha),  shows characteristics of both and have resulted in a large, mature beautiful cactus growing at some elevation in the Ajo Mountains in Southern Arizona. Since so many of our native members of the Opuntia genus are so closely related and have overlapping natural ranges, hybridization is common among many species, and is the source of much confusion and frustration for biologist and naturalist alike! This particular plant has the beautiful silvery white spines and flower petal shape of O. engelmannii and the flower coloration and growth pattern of O. phaecantha.
    Natural Prickly Pear Hybrid
  • This natural hybrid (Opuntia engelmannii x phaecantha) of two common and local prickly pear cacti - the Engelmann's Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii) and the brown-spined prickly pear (Opuntia phaecantha),  shows characteristics of both and have resulted in a large, mature beautiful cactus growing at some elevation in the Ajo Mountains in Southern Arizona. Since so many of our native members of the Opuntia genus are so closely related and have overlapping natural ranges, hybridization is common among many species, and is the source of much confusion and frustration for biologist and naturalist alike! This particular plant has the beautiful silvery white spines and flower petal shape of O. engelmannii and the flower coloration and growth pattern of O. phaecantha.
    Natural Prickly Pear Hybrid
  • This natural hybrid (Opuntia engelmannii x phaecantha) of two common and local prickly pear cacti - the Engelmann's Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii) and the brown-spined prickly pear (Opuntia phaecantha),  shows characteristics of both and have resulted in a large, mature beautiful cactus growing at some elevation in the Ajo Mountains in Southern Arizona. Since so many of our native members of the Opuntia genus are so closely related and have overlapping natural ranges, hybridization is common among many species, and is the source of much confusion and frustration for biologist and naturalist alike! This particular plant has the beautiful silvery white spines and flower petal shape of O. engelmannii and the flower coloration and growth pattern of O. phaecantha.
    Natural Prickly Pear Hybrid
  • This natural hybrid (Opuntia engelmannii x phaecantha) of two common and local prickly pear cacti - the Engelmann's Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii) and the brown-spined prickly pear (Opuntia phaecantha),  shows characteristics of both and have resulted in a large, mature beautiful cactus growing at some elevation in the Ajo Mountains in Southern Arizona. Since so many of our native members of the Opuntia genus are so closely related and have overlapping natural ranges, hybridization is common among many species, and is the source of much confusion and frustration for biologist and naturalist alike! This particular plant has the beautiful silvery white spines and flower petal shape of O. engelmannii and the flower coloration and growth pattern of O. phaecantha.
    Natural Prickly Pear Hybrid
  • Engelmann's prickly pear is one of the most (if not the most) widespread of the prickly pear cacti. It is found in all of the American Southwestern States (except Colorado) and can even be found as far east as Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri and is widespread throughout much of Mexico. Oddly enough , it has become an invasive species in Kenya! The sweet, juicy fruits are a traditional and still very important food source wildlife an for many tribes and nations of the Native Americans and is commonly used in Latin American cuisine.
    Engelmann's Prickly Pear
  • Common in lower elevations of western/southwestern Texas and much of Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert, this is the only native prickly pear in the region without long spines. Instead, brown hair-like glochids grow in the areoles, which if touched, can be quite painful and difficult to remove. This one was  photographed just north and below the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park in Brewster County, Texas.
    Blind Prickly Pear
  • Common in lower elevations of western/southwestern Texas and much of Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert, this is the only native prickly pear in the region without long spines. Instead, brown hair-like glochids grow in the areoles, which if touched, can be quite painful and difficult to remove. This one was  photographed just north and below the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park in Brewster County, Texas.
    Blind Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    PurplishPricklyPear2015-32.jpg
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Found only within the greater Big Bend Region, this prickly pear can be vibrant green during wet times, or deep magenta during colder months or dry times. Yellow flowers with red centers will bloom from April to July.  This one was photographed<br />
 in Big Bend National Park in Western Texas.
    Purplish Prickly Pear
  • A very common aquatic wildflower found all across Western North America,  the yellow pond-lily is a type of spatterdock often confused with water lilies. This one was photographed in the sub-alpine elevations of Oregon's Mount Hood. An interesting side note is that the seeds are edible, and will pop just like popcorn!
    Yellow Pond-lily
  • Pad and flower view of the brilliantly colored beavertail cactus blooming in the Sonoran Desert just outside of Palo Verde in Southern California.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • Pad and flower view of the brilliantly colored beavertail cactus blooming in the Sonoran Desert just outside of Palo Verde in Southern California.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • Pad and flower view of the brilliantly colored beavertail cactus blooming in the Sonoran Desert just outside of Palo Verde in Southern California.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • Pad and flower view of the brilliantly colored beavertail cactus blooming in the Sonoran Desert just outside of Palo Verde in Southern California.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • A single lotus flower on a hot summer morning.  Most interesting about these flowers are the leaves, which will not get wet, but instead repel waterdrops in such a way that they just form "beads" on top of the pad-like structure. Lots of fun to play with when the fish aren't biting!
    American Lotus
  • Close-up flowers of the unique flowers of the cochineal nopal cactus. This incredibly beautiful member of the prickly pear cactus family is endemic to Mexico and has moved across the world by plant enthusiasts and collectors due to its beauty and hardiness. With its stunningly beautiful, cone-shaped bright pink flowers to its relative lack of spines, this tree-like beauty can reach a height of 12-13 feel (4 meters) and the ripe red fruits and cactus pads are edible and delicious! This one was found growing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas near Weslaco in Hidalgo County.
    Cochineal Nopal Cactus (Opuntia coch..era)
  • Close-up flowers of the unique flowers of the cochineal nopal cactus. This incredibly beautiful member of the prickly pear cactus family is endemic to Mexico and has moved across the world by plant enthusiasts and collectors due to its beauty and hardiness. With its stunningly beautiful, cone-shaped bright pink flowers to its relative lack of spines, this tree-like beauty can reach a height of 12-13 feel (4 meters) and the ripe red fruits and cactus pads are edible and delicious! This one was found growing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas near Weslaco in Hidalgo County.
    Cochineal Nopal Cactus (Opuntia coch..era)
  • American lotus flower and pads on Lake Jackson in Tallahassee, Florida.
    American Lotus
  • A beavertail cactus in the Picacho Peak Wilderness Area in the Sonoran Desert in Southern California showing the developing fruits on the top of the pads. You can still see the dried up flowers that have yet to fall off since they were pollinated.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • A beavertail cactus in the Sonoran Desert just outside of Palo Verde in Southern California showing the developing fruits on the top of the pads. You can still see the dried up flowers that have yet to fall off since they were pollinated.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • Also known as the purple prickly pear, this incredibly beautiful Mexican Opuntia cactus develops fantastic purple pads that perfectly compliment the bright yellow (sometimes red) flowers. Native to Northern Mexico from Baja California to the Chihuahuan Desert, its American range extends only into Pima County in Southern Arizona where these were found in peak bloom and photographed just outside of the park borders of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
    Santa Rita Prickly Pear
  • Also known as the purple prickly pear, this incredibly beautiful Mexican Opuntia cactus develops fantastic purple pads that perfectly compliment the bright yellow (sometimes red) flowers. Native to Northern Mexico from Baja California to the Chihuahuan Desert, its American range extends only into Pima County in Southern Arizona where these were found in peak bloom and photographed just outside of the park borders of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
    Santa Rita Prickly Pear
  • The cochineal nopal cactus is an incredibly beautiful member of the prickly pear cactus family that is endemic to Mexico and has moved across the world by plant enthusiasts and collectors due to its beauty and hardiness. With its stunningly beautiful, cone-shaped bright pink flowers to its relative lack of spines, this tree-like beauty can reach a height of 12-13 feel (4 meters) and the ripe red fruits and cactus pads are edible and delicious! This one was found growing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas near Weslaco in Hidalgo County.
    Cochineal Nopal Cactus (Opuntia coch..era)
  • Close-up flowers of the unique flowers of the cochineal nopal cactus. This incredibly beautiful member of the prickly pear cactus family is endemic to Mexico and has moved across the world by plant enthusiasts and collectors due to its beauty and hardiness. With its stunningly beautiful, cone-shaped bright pink flowers to its relative lack of spines, this tree-like beauty can reach a height of 12-13 feel (4 meters) and the ripe red fruits and cactus pads are edible and delicious! This one was found growing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas near Weslaco in Hidalgo County.
    Cochineal Nopal Cactus (Opuntia coch..era)
  • Close-up flowers of the unique flowers of the cochineal nopal cactus. This incredibly beautiful member of the prickly pear cactus family is endemic to Mexico and has moved across the world by plant enthusiasts and collectors due to its beauty and hardiness. With its stunningly beautiful, cone-shaped bright pink flowers to its relative lack of spines, this tree-like beauty can reach a height of 12-13 feel (4 meters) and the ripe red fruits and cactus pads are edible and delicious! This one was found growing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas near Weslaco in Hidalgo County.
    Cochineal Nopal Cactus (Opuntia coch..era)
  • A beavertail cactus in the Sonoran Desert just outside of Palo Verde in Southern California showing the developing fruits on the top of the pads. You can still see the dried up flowers that have yet to fall off since they were pollinated.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • A beavertail cactus in the Sonoran Desert just outside of Palo Verde in Southern California showing the developing fruits on the top of the pads. You can still see the dried up flowers that have yet to fall off since they were pollinated.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • Also known as the purple prickly pear, this incredibly beautiful Mexican Opuntia cactus develops fantastic purple pads that perfectly compliment the bright yellow (sometimes red) flowers. Native to Northern Mexico from Baja California to the Chihuahuan Desert, its American range extends only into Pima County in Southern Arizona where these were found in peak bloom and photographed just outside of the park borders of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
    Santa Rita Prickly Pear
  • Also known as the purple prickly pear, this incredibly beautiful Mexican Opuntia cactus develops fantastic purple pads that perfectly compliment the bright yellow (sometimes red) flowers. Native to Northern Mexico from Baja California to the Chihuahuan Desert, its American range extends only into Pima County in Southern Arizona where these were found in peak bloom and photographed just outside of the park borders of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
    Santa Rita Prickly Pear
  • Also known as the purple prickly pear, this incredibly beautiful Mexican Opuntia cactus develops fantastic purple pads that perfectly compliment the bright yellow (sometimes red) flowers. Native to Northern Mexico from Baja California to the Chihuahuan Desert, its American range extends only into Pima County in Southern Arizona where these were found in peak bloom and photographed just outside of the park borders of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
    Santa Rita Prickly Pear
  • Also known as the purple prickly pear, this incredibly beautiful Mexican Opuntia cactus develops fantastic purple pads that perfectly compliment the bright yellow (sometimes red) flowers. Native to Northern Mexico from Baja California to the Chihuahuan Desert, its American range extends only into Pima County in Southern Arizona where these were found in peak bloom and photographed just outside of the park borders of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
    Santa Rita Prickly Pear
  • There is no mistaking the beavertail cactus. Named because of the pads, the grey-green color is a dead giveaway. There are a dozen or more subspecies, so there are slight variations based on location, elevations, etc. Generally the flowers are this bright fuchsia, but some other naturally occurring varieties have equally bright yellow flowers.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • The tiny and beautiful pink sundew has many leaves with sticky pads arranged in a rosette. These sticky sweet drops of muscilage attract flying insects that become trapped and then are slowly digested by the plant.
    Pink Sundew (Drosera capillaris)