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Species library › Opuntia › Opuntia excelsa
Succulents Well documented

Opuntia excelsa

A large, tree-forming prickly pear of the Mexican Pacific slope, mostly recorded in the tropical dry forest of Jalisco and Colima near sea level. It wants heat, full sun, a wet summer and a long dry winter and spring, and it is frost tender compared with northern Opuntia.

Opuntia excelsa
Photo: Jef Poskanzer from Berkeley, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Full sunDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Grows in tropical deciduous and semi-deciduous forest and coastal scrub on the Pacific side of west Mexico, where it can reach tree size among other dry-forest trees.

Records span 3–2,179 m, but the median is about 100 m; most plants grow in the coastal lowlands.

Mexico NorthwestMexico Southwest

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

Grow Opuntia excelsa? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY 2.0 licence, unmodified.