Opuntia velutina F.A.C.Weber in Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. (Paris) 10: 389–390. 1904 sec. Hunt 2016
- =Opuntia atropes Rose in Smithsonian Misc. Collect. 50: 518. 1908 syn. sec. Hunt 2016
- =Opuntia nelsonii Rose in Smithsonian Misc. Collect. 50: 516. 1908 syn. sec. TROPICOS 1988+
- =Opuntia affinis Griffiths in Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 27(6): 27–28. 1914 syn. sec. TROPICOS 1988+
- ≡Opuntia velutina var. affinis (Griffiths) Bravo in Cact. Suc. Mex. 17(4): 119. 1972 syn. sec. TROPICOS 1988+