Cow Tongue Prickly Pear

This is Cow Tongue Prickly Pear or Opuntia egnelmannii var. linguiformis. This particular variety of prickly pear is critically imperiled in the wild. One thing I've noticed recently is that due to the extreme drought in the Southwest many of the prickly pear plants are collapsing from lack of water. It is strange to see a cactus die because it is too dry.