Pink flower of prickly pear cactus / Opuntia. Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada, USA.

A pink prickly pear cactus flower (Opuntia genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae) blooms at Callville Bay, in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada, USA. Like all true cactus species, prickly pears are native only to the Western hemisphere; however, they have been introduced elsewhere on earth. Formation of Lake Mead began in 1935, less than a year before Hoover Dam was completed along the Colorado River. The area surrounding Lake Mead was established as the Boulder Dam Recreation Area in 1936. In 1964, the area was expanded and became the first National Recreation Area established by US Congress. Three desert ecosystems meet in Lake Mead NRA: Mojave Desert, Great Basin Desert, and Sonoran Desert.

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Filename: 1303NV-4052.jpg
Copyright: © Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com
Image Size: 8000x5942 / 5.9MB; http://www.photoseek.com/; Magnoliophyta Plantae angiosperms bloom blossom desert flowers plants
Contained in galleries: Nevada: Lake Mead National Recreation Area

A pink prickly pear cactus flower (Opuntia genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae) blooms at Callville Bay, in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada, USA. Like all true cactus species, prickly pears are native only to the Western hemisphere; however, they have been introduced elsewhere on earth. Formation of Lake Mead began in 1935, less than a year before Hoover Dam was completed along the Colorado River. The area surrounding Lake Mead was established as the Boulder Dam Recreation Area in 1936. In 1964, the area was expanded and became the first National Recreation Area established by US Congress. Three desert ecosystems meet in Lake Mead NRA: Mojave Desert, Great Basin Desert, and Sonoran Desert.