Bakersfield Cactus
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Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office

Species Account

BAKERSFIELD CACTUS
(Opuntia treleasei)

There is a special Bakersfield cactus species account for 4th, 5th and 6th grade students.

CLASSIFICATION: Federal Endangered Species (Federal Register 55:29361; July 19, 1990.)

CRITICAL HABITAT:  None designated.

RECOVERY PLAN: The Recovery Plan for the Upland Species of the San Joaquin Valley, September 30. 1998. (pdf format)

DESCRIPTION:

Bakersfield cactus (Opuntia treleasei) is a perennial low growing cactus (Cactaceae). It typically spreads to form extensive thickets. It generally forms fleshy, flattened green beavertail-like pads (flattened stems) 3 to 4 inches wide by 5 to 7 inches long that produce showy magenta flowers. The eye-spots on the pads contain spines in addition to bristles.

See Hickman (1993) in General Information about California Plants, below, for a detailed description (under Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei.)

The life span of wild plants has not been determined, but clumps in cultivation have survived for 48 years. The species' reproduction has not been studied. Vegetative reproduction is thought to be typical, as the plants produce seeds only infrequently. Pads may be dispersed by flood waters, but seed dispersal agents are unknown.

DISTRIBUTION:

Soils supporting Bakersfield cactus typically are sandy, although gravel, cobbles or boulders also may be present. The species occurs on flood plains, ridges, bluffs and rolling hills in saltbush scrub plant communities, and occasionally in blue oak woodland or riparian woodland at elevations from 460 to 1,800 feet. 

Distribution is restricted to a limited area of central Kern County near Bakersfield. Once extensive colonies existed around Bakersfield, along the bluffs of the Kern River, along the Caliente Creek drainage and nearby foothills of the Tehachapi Mountains, and south to the Tejon Hills. Current distribution is fragmented and much reduced. Approximately one-third of the historical occurrences of Bakersfield cactus have been extirpated and the remaining populations are highly fragmented.

The total population of Bakersfield cactus was not estimated historically. Densely-spaced clumps of cactus once covered and estimated area of 2 square miles from the Caliente Creek flood plain onto Sand Ridge. When known sites were last inventoried, fewer than 20,000 clumps of Bakersfield cactus were estimated to remain. Only four areas had populations of 1,000 clumps or more: Comanche Point, Kern Bluff, Sand Ridge, and the area north of Wheeler Ridge.

THREATS:

The most serious threats are residential development near Bakersfield and habitat conversion to agriculture. Other threats include periodic inundation of flood plain populations, pesticide drift, off-road vehicle use, sand and gravel mining, oil and gas exploration and development, and competition from nonnative annual grasses. Lack of genetic diversity and small population size increase the species' vulnerability to diseases, parasites, and chance events such as environmental fluctuations, catastrophes and genetic drift.

STATE & CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY STATUS:

This species was listed as endangered by the California Department of Fish and Game in January 1990. It is on the sensitive plants list of the Bureau of Land Management's Bakersfield field office. The California Native Plant Society has placed it on List 1B (rare or endangered throughout its range).

REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Brown, N. L. and E. A. Cypher. Endangered Species Recovery Program profile.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 1990. Endangeredand Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Endangered or Threatened Status for Five Plants from the Southern San Joaquln Valley. Portland, Oregon.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 1998. Recovery plan for upland species of the San Joaquin Valley, California. Portland, OR

General Information about California Plants

Credits: Photo by Donald Myrick, Copyright © 1999 California Academy of Sciences Calphoto ID: 8253 3202 0971 0043

Prepared by Endangered Species Div., Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

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