Opuntia anahuacensis is a cactus species in the genus Opuntia of the family Opuntioideae. It grows along the Gulf Coast of Texas, and perhaps northern Mexico.^[1] The plants are short, perhaps 1- or 2-ft tall, but they are wide. Some thickets may be 20- to 40-ft across and composed of multiple plants. The fruit is purplish. The cladodes are uniquely shaped, obovate with a neck. The original description claimed the plants were yellowish green, but they may be green or rarely blue-green.^[2]

Opuntia anahuacensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Genus:	Opuntia
Species:	O. anahuacensis
Binomial name
Opuntia anahuacensis Griffiths

As with any largish Opuntia in the US, O. anahuacensis has been mistaken for other species. It is commonly misidentified as O. lindheimeri and less commonly as O. bentonii.