Similar look to Opuntia santa-rita, Opuntia macrocentra is shorter and bushier than santa-rita, only getting 2-3 feet tall, and spreads about the same. The most obvious difference from Santa Rita is the spines. Macrocentra has lots of long brown to black spines that are often several inches long.
There are two recognized varieties which have slightly different pads. Variety ‘macrocentra’ has pads that are 6-8 inches and are mostly glaucous blue with a tinge of purple (they get more purple under temperature and water stress.) Variety ‘minor’ has pads that are smaller, 4-6 inches and just blue/green not particularly purple.
photos show the mother plant but not necessarily your exact cutting
