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Plant Profile

Bakersfield Beavertail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei)

Global Rank: T1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: Federally Endangered
Family: Cactaceae
State: CA
Nature Serve ID: 156336
Lifeform: Tree, Shrub
Categories of Interest: Cacti/Succulents
Date Inducted in National Collection:

Description:

Very little is known about this variety of prickly pear cactus. About a third of the historic occurrences have been extirpated and the remaining populations are highly fragmented. This is due to habitat loss caused by agricultural development in the region in the early 1900's. Continued development along with several industrial and recreational activities still threaten the remaining populations. This variety grows in dense patches with many of its leaves overlapping with neighbors, making accurate individual counts difficult. This plant is measured as collections of pads that all appear to root at the same location or clusters to deal with this difficulty. When this cactus flowers in May, the patches become beautiful fields of large pink blossoms. (Brown and Cypher 1997)

Where is Bakersfield Beavertail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Sandy soils in flood plains, ridges, bluffs, and rolling hills in the Pacific grassland and Mojavean Desert between 120 and 300 meters (Brown and Cypher 1997; USFWS 1998)

Distribution:

central Kern County, California in the vicinity of Bakersfield (Brown and Cypher 1997; USFWS 1998)

States & Provinces:

Bakersfield Beavertail Cactus can be found in California

Which CPC Partners conserve Bakersfield Beavertail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei)?

Regional Parks Botanic Garden

Not Sponsored

Assigned 06/09/17

California Botanic Garden

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

09/01/2020

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden holds 1 accessions of Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 412 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

08/05/2020

Based on an August 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden has collected 1 seed accessions of Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei from 1 plant occurrences listed in the California Natural Diversity Database. These collections together emcompass 23 maternal plants

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Historically, this taxon occurred in populations that were more or less continuous east of Bakersfield, California. It is now restricted to a limited area of central Kern County near the Southern San Joaquin Valley. About one-third of the historical occurrences have been extirpated due to the conversion of habitat into agriculture and urban development. The remaining populations are small and highly fragmented, concentrated into about 11 areas. Only four core areas contain populations of greater than 1,000 clumps. Remaining populations are threatened by loss of habitat from agricultural, urbanizing, mining and energy developments, off-road vehicle traffic, trash dumping, grazing, and competition with non-native invasive species.

01/01/2010

Habitat loss due to development Petroleum production Sand and gravel mining Off-road vehicle (ORVs) Introduced grasses Air pollution Low genetic diversity (Brown and Cypher 1997) Overgrazing by sheep and cattle (HCPB 2002)

01/01/2010

There are eleven sites supporting less than 20,000 clusters and only four sites contain populations of more than 1,000 clusters (Brown and Cypher 1997; USFWS 1998)

01/01/2010

None known.

01/01/2010

In 1997, three areas of Bakersfield cactus habitat were acquired as mitigation and are currently being managed to protect this rare variety. (CDFG 2002) In 1998, a regional recovery plan was drafted and included protection of this cactus. (USFWS 1998)

01/01/2010

Basic natural history and reproductive biology Pollinator identification

01/01/2010

Maintain genetically representative seed bank.