Opuntia also native to sandy coastal beach scrub environments of the East Coast from Florida to southern Connecticut ("Opuntia humifusa"). "Opuntia" species are the most cold-tolerant of the lowland cacti, extending into western and southern Canada; one subspecies, "O. fragilis" var. "fragilis", has been found growing along the Beatton River in central British Columbia, southwest of Cecil Lake at 56° 17’ N latitude and 120° 39’ W longitude. Prickly pears also produce a fruit, commonly eaten in Mexico and in the Mediterranean region, known as "tuna"; it also is used to make "aguas frescas". The fruit can be red, wine-red, green,
Plant functional type key parameters are defined, such as fecundity, competitiveness, resorption (rate at which plant decays and returns nutrients to the soil after death), etc.; the value of each parameter is determined or inferred from observable characteristics such as plant height, leaf area, etc. Climatologists and ecologists struggle to determine which minimal set of plant characteristics best model the actual responses of the biosphere in response to climate changes. Plant functional type Plant functional types (PFTs) is a system used by climatologists to classify plants according to their physical, phylogenetic and phenological characteristics as part of an overall effort to develop a