Editing Eastern Prickly Pear (section)

=== Branford (General Area, Stony Creek & Kelsey Island) ===

The Yale University Herbarium contains a specimen of ''Opuntia humifusa'' collected in Branford, Connecticut by W. H. Brewer in 1852 (YPM YU 051550).<ref name="yuh"></ref>  No further specifics are provided concerning the location of the colony from which the specimen was harvested.

The Yale University Herbarium contains a second specimen of ''Opuntia humifusa'' collected at Stony Creek by J. H. Buell on July 1, 1874 (YPM YU 051549)<ref name="yuh"></ref>.  Stony Creek is not an incorporated town in Connecticut, but rather a census-designated place within Branford.  No further specifics are provided concerning the location of the colony from which the specimen was harvested.

The George Safford Torrey Herbarium at UConn contains a specimen of ''Opuntia humifusa'' collected in Branford on September 22, 1998 by William H. Moorhead III in Branford, Connecticut (CONN Accession #122327).  The collection location is rather precisely revealed as "sunny outcrops of pink bedrock (mapped as granitic gneiss)" on the "northeast end" of Kelsey Island.<ref name="gsth">''The George Safford Torrey Herbarium (CONN)''. University of Connecticut, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, n.d. Web. 16 May 2012.</ref>  The elevation of the collection site is recorded as being 3 meters (9.8 feet) above sea level.  Moorhead elaborates even further, noting that the ''O. humifusa'' plants from which he harvested fruits were "on sub-level to gently moderately sloping surfaces."  Interestingly, he adds that ''O. humifusa'' can also be found "in similar habitat at northern end of smaller upland island northwest of main island, and in house yards on mainland north of island."  Since the collection date for this specimen is relatively recent, there is a very good possibility that the cactus colony from which it was harvested still exists.