Editing Eastern Prickly Pear (section)

===== May 9, 2012 =====

On May 9, 2012, I conducted a field exploration of Short Beach Park in which I focused exclusively upon a swath of sandy scrubland found within.  This exploration involved roughly 1/2-mile of walking in total, during which I attempted investigate all of the potential habitat areas in the immediate vicinity.

Although I uncovered no material in my research which suggested the presence of ''Opuntia humifusa'' at Short Beach Park, I was surprised to discover the first specimen within only a minute or two of searching.  Subsequently, I discovered numerous other specimens spread out over roughly an acre.

These cacti are actually rather easy to find, which may seem odd considering that no literature, articles or photographs of them can be found online.  There are probably three factors which contribute to this lack of publicity.  First, Short Beach Park is generally open only to residents of Stratford, meaning that the park doesn't get nearly as many visitors as if it were open to surrounding towns.  Second, those Stratford residents that do visit the park probably tend to be interested primarily in visiting the sand beaches, not the scrubland behind them.  Finally, one of the most common herbaceous plants that I found in association with this colony was ''Toxicodendron radicans'' (Poison Ivy), a highly-allergenic plant which is readily identifiable and generally avoided at all costs by humans.  Some combination of these three factors is responsible for the relative "secrecy" of this colony despite the fact that it is easily accessible and found in extremely close proximity to heavily-visited beachfront.

Nonetheless, there is a trail matrix weaving throughout the scrubland which I doubt is of natural origin, so there must be some measure of human tending/landscaping to the area, as well as at least some regular foot traffic.  Thus, this colony is probably well-known locally, but simply hasn't been publicized for one reason or another.