the photos were taken around red hill in the painted hills unit in wheeler co Oregon. the plants come from blm land but they were all over. it is in my opinion almoust impossible to tell the difference between opuntia like fragilis and columbia when they grow together. i have seen round pads with flat pads coming off, if you take the same cactus and plant it on two side of a hill it will look diffrent. and if you take 2 diffrent and plant in the same location sometimes they will grow identicly. The flowers know the truth but they are never in flower when i go out hunting....
