Shrubs forming clumps, often prostrate, usually only 1 or 2 stem segments tall, to 0.5 m. Stem segments fleshy, flabby, or firm, cross-wrinkled under stress. 2n = 22, 44.

Flowering spring-summer (Feb-Aug). Sandy habitats, openings on dry, sometimes wooded hillsides; 0-1000 m; Ont.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Va., W.Va., Wis.

Usually in very sandy soil but in Harrison, Jefferson, and Jennings Counties it is found in a friable clay soil. It forms large colonies and becomes an obnoxious weed, especially on the bluff of the Ohio River north of Madison. The Indiana species of Opuntia are not well understood. The most recent revision of the genus would refer all of our reports of Opuntia vulgaris Mill. to this species (under the synonymous name Opuntia opuntia (L.) Karst.). See Britton and Rose. The Cactaceae 1:127-129. 1919.