Opuntia ammophila Opuntia ammophila Opuntia ammophila, the devil's-tongue, is a species of prickly pear cactus in Florida. Individuals typically occur singly and do not generally form dense thickets. "O. ammophila" was once considered a variety of "O. humifusa"; however, it is a distinct species. Among their many differences, "O. ammophila" has gray-green cladodes rather than green or grass-green. "Opuntia ammophila" can grow to the height of humans, and large plants with thick trunks were encountered 100 years ago. However, now it is unusual to find plants that are even 1 m tall. However, even small plants form a single trunk. The flower
Opuntia readily between species. This can make classification difficult, yielding a reticulate phylogeny where different species come together in hybridization. Also, not all species listed here may actually belong in this genus, meaning that "Opuntia" is not a monophyletic group. "Opuntia" also has a tendency for polyploidy. The ancestral diploid state was 2n=22, but many species are hexaploid (6n = 66) or octaploid (8n = 88). Chollas, now recognized to belong to the distinct genus "Cylindropuntia", are distinguished by having cylindrical, rather than flattened, stem segments with large barbed spines. The stem joints of several species, notably the jumping cholla ("Cylindropuntia