iN PHOTOS: Prickly pear cactus has brief, colourful bloom in Kamloops, Okanagan

In late spring and early summer, the grasslands in Kamloops and the Okanagan are filled with the colourful blooms of the region’s only cactus, but the blooms only last for a few days or a week. One of the country’s few native cacti, the prickly pear cactus blooms in early June in an array of colours including yellow, orange and pink on open sites with sandy or gravely soils. The prickly pear cactus is a remarkably resilient plant that can thrive in arid and desert regions, and survive in low-water conditions and extreme temperatures by shrivelling up and hibernating during the winter months, according to Nature Trust British Columbia. https://www.naturetrust.bc.ca/news/brittle-prickly-pear-cactus-hidden-beauty The spines are modified leaves that minimize moisture loss and attach to passing wildlife to be deposited in new areas. The cactus has flat, fleshy pads that store water, photosynthesize and produce flowers, which turn into small, pear-shaped fruit, according to Sierra Club BC. https://sierraclub.bc.ca/prickly-pear-cactus/ Historically, Indigenous groups ate the fruit to help with incontinence, used the spines as needles and roasted the stems to be eaten as a vegetable. The fruit can be turned into a jelly. Prickly pear cactus is food for insects, wood rats and turtles, and because of its extensive root systems, the cactus helps to stabilize soil. If you have photos of fauna to share, send them to news@infonews.ca. mailto:news@infonews.ca To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie mailto:sainslie@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .