Visit Big Bend National Park between March and May and you’ll be treated to a color explosion of saturated magentas, oranges, yellows, pinks, and reds on the cactus blooms. The landscape is awash with cactus and the best time to spot them – especially more elusive varieties – is during the springtime.

Bee and prickly pear cactus bloom, Big Bend National Park / Rebecca Latson

The park supports some 1,200 plant species, including desert succulents such as agave, Lechuguilla, yuccas, sotol, and ocotillo, as well as 60 cactus species, and many of these species sport colorful blooms during springtime.

What’s the difference between a cactus and a succulent?

According to park staff:

Cacti [such as prickly pear, eagle claw, cholla, and pitaya] and succulents, such as agaves, yuccas, and ocotillo, are xerophytes—plants that possess highly adaptive characteristics that allow them to thrive in bone-dry conditions. Forced to survive by conserving water, these plants have evolved into uniquely shaped characters, with atypical characteristics. Cacti and desert succulents are often confused because of their spiny appearance, but each has its own set of distinct traits.

Cacti and succulents use a photosynthesis process called Crassulacean Acid Metabolism or CAM. Minute pores in the plant's skin surface—called stomata—open only at night. Carbon dioxide is absorbed through these minute openings and chemically stored as an organic acid. Much less stored moisture is lost by the plant's use of this nightly process. During the day, carbon dioxide is internally released from the acid and made available to the plant. The trade-off in this delayed system of photosynthesis is that cacti and succulent species generally grow very slowly.

Cactus have a thick fleshy outer "skin" glazed with a waxy layer that efficiently protects the plant against both moisture loss and the sun's radiant heat. Leaves (lost through evolution) have been replaced by spine clusters.

Succulents, like agaves and yuccas, have long fibrous leaves that may be barbed with treacherously sharp spines, but surprisingly they are more closely related to lilies than to cacti.

So, that tall, branchy ocotillo with the huge thorns and bright red-orange flowerets at the tip of each branch is actually a succulent plant and not a cactus.

The dangerous-looking thorns and bright flowerets of an ocotillo, Big Bend National Park / Rebecca Latson

Now, the number of blooming cacti you see (or do not see) during your spring visit to the park depends upon the amount of previous rain falling upon the terrain during the winter. In truth, springtime at Big Bend can occur as early as February because of winter rains.

Of course, cacti and succulents are not the only vegetation you’ll see alight with color in the spring. Patches of iconic bluebonnets line the park road, and you may spot cenizo (aka barometer bush) with its pink blooms, desert marigold, and mesquite, to name just a few.

Bluebonnets at Big Bend National Park / Rebecca Latson

Some of the more common blooming cacti you will see are prickly pear and cholla. Don’t be too surprised if you can’t specifically identify the prickly pear you see from its bloom.

According to park staff:

There are sixteen species of Opuntia (prickly pear and cholla cacti) in the Trans-Pecos area of Texas. These species tend to hybridize, so it is often difficult to determine which prickly pear is which. There are two general varieties [of Opuntia]: the chollas that have cylindrical stems and the prickly pears that have flattened stems. The cacti have spines instead of leaves to conserve water and carry out all food production through the stems of the plants. The spines are numerous and can be yellow, brown, pink, red, or black in color depending on the species. The flowers appear in April and are usually yellow (prickly pears) or pink (chollas). Fruits are usually maroon (prickly pears) or yellow (chollas) and some varieties are very juicy and sweet.

The Native Americans ate these fruits, called tunas, and today we use them to make jellies and syrups. The young cactus pads or nopals were used as a potherb (like greens) or pickled. Their taste is typically described as a cross between green pepper and okra. The seeds were eaten in soups or ground up for flour. The pads were sometimes split and soaked in water and could be used to bind wounds with the sticky side down. The insides are similar to aloe vera and softened the skin and lessened pain. The bitter juice from the pads could be used as an emergency source of water. In Mexico, fields of prickly pear are grown for a scale insect, the cochineal, which grows on the pads. This insect is used to produce a beautiful natural purple dye.

You’ll also probably see strawberry pitaya, claret cup, and maybe even a blooming eagle’s claw cactus (look at the shape of the spines and you’ll know why it’s called that). They tend to get overlooked until their bright, hot-pink blooms show up.

A strawberry pitaya bloom, Big Bend National Park / Rebecca Latson

Blooming cholla cactus, Big Bend National Park / Rebecca Latson

Claret cup bloom, Big Bend National Park / Rebecca Latson

Eagle's claw cactus blooms, Big Bend National Park / Rebecca Latson

To help identify the most common flowering plants and cacti in the park, you can pick up Plants of the Chihuahuan Desert laminated folded guide at the visitor centers and online from Big Bend Natural History Association.