These were taken at a sand prairie in southern Iowa in June 2020 while I was hunting for orchids. Pro tip – don’t wear hiking sandals while walking through habitat that contains loads of prickly pear…
-OZB
Opuntia humifusa (Eastern Prickly Pear)
"What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered, and perhaps not even asked." -Aldo Leopold
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 