Opuntia, commonly called the prickly pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae, many known for their flavorful fruit and showy flowers.[1] Cacti are well-adapted to aridity, however, they are still vulnerable to alterations in precipitation and temperature driven by climate change.[2]Prickly pear alone is more commonly used to refer exclusively to the fruit, but may also be used for the plant itself; in addition, other names given to the plant and its specific parts include tuna (fruit), sabra, sabbar, nopal (pads, plural nopales) from the Nahuatl word nōpalli, nostle (fruit) from the Nahuatl word nōchtli, and paddle cactus. The genus is named for the Ancient Greek city of Opus,[3] where, according to Theophrastus, an edible plant grew and could be propagated by rooting its leaves.[failed verification] The most common culinary species is the "Barbary fig" (Opuntia ficus-indica).
^"Opuntia ficus-indica (prickly pear)". CABI. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
^Albuquerque, Fabio; Benito, Blas; Rodriguez, Miguel Ángel Macias; Gray, Caitlin (19 September 2018). "Potential changes in the distribution of Carnegiea gigantea under future scenarios". PeerJ. 6: e5623. doi:10.7717/peerj.5623. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 6151114. PMID 30258720.
^Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. Vol. III M-Q. CRC Press. p. 1885. ISBN 978-0-8493-2677-6.
Opuntia, commonly called the prickly pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae, many known for their flavorful fruit...
Opuntia humifusa, commonly known as the devil's-tongue, eastern prickly pear or Indian fig, is a cactus of the genus Opuntia present in parts of the eastern...
Opuntia cochenillifera is a species of cactus in the subfamily Opuntioideae. It may have been endemic to Mexico, but has been widely introduced. The first...
Opuntia engelmannii is a prickly pear common across the south-central and Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It goes by a variety of common...
Opuntia erinacea, the Mojave prickly pear, variously treated as a species, or as a variety of Opuntia polyacantha, in the family Cactaceae, that is a...
Opuntia monacantha, commonly known as drooping prickly pear, cochineal prickly pear, or Barbary fig, is a species of plant in the family Cactaceae native...
Opuntia stricta is a species of large cactus that is endemic to the subtropical and tropical coastal areas of the Americas, especially around the Caribbean...
Opuntia basilaris, the beavertail cactus or beavertail pricklypear, is a cactus species found in the southwest United States. It occurs mostly in the...
Opuntia microdasys (angel's-wings, bunny ears cactus, bunny cactus or polka-dot cactus) is a species of flowering plant in the cactus family Cactaceae...
Opuntia fragilis, known by the common names brittle pricklypear and little prickly pear, is a prickly pear cactus native to much of western North America...
Opuntia macrocentra, the long-spined purplish prickly pear or purple pricklypear, is a cactus found in the lower Southwestern United States and Northwestern...
Opuntia gosseliniana, commonly known as the violet pricklypear, is a species of cactus that is native to Pima County, Arizona in the United States and...
Opuntia azurea, the purple prickly pear or coyotillo, is a long-spined prickly pear that is native to a variety of habitats, including desert, mountain...
Opuntia Lake is a shallow, man-made salt lake in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It was formed with the construction of the Opuntia Control along...
subtaxa of these species. Opuntia echios, Opuntia helleri, Opuntia insularis, Opuntia megasperma, Opuntia myriacantha and Opuntia saxicola are now sunk within...
Opuntia rufida is a species of prickly pear cactus native to southwestern Texas and northern Mexico, where it grows on rocky slopes. The species makes...
800 species of cacti mostly fall into one of two groups of "core cacti": opuntias (subfamily Opuntioideae) and "cactoids" (subfamily Cactoideae). Most members...
Opuntia quitensis is a species of columnar cactus found in Peru and Ecuador. The plant extends with small stems, forming a large shrub with a size of...
Opuntia stenopetala is a species low bushy cactus, often forming thickets or mats, the main branches creeping and resting on the edges of the joints....
Opuntia chlorotica is a species of plant in the family Cactaceae. It is a species of prickly pear native to the southwestern United States and northern...
Opuntia cespitosa, commonly called the eastern prickly pear, is a species of cactus native to North America. It is most common west of the Appalachian...
Opuntia cacanapa is a cactus in the genus Opuntia. In the United States, it is found primarily in the southern Trans-Pecos and the South Texas Plains...
Austrocylindropuntia cylindrica (syn. Opuntia cylindrica), the cane cactus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cactaceae. It is native to Colombia...
Opuntia phaeacantha is a species of prickly pear cactus known by the common names brown-spine prickly pear, tulip prickly pear, and desert prickly pear...
Opuntia huajuapensis, commonly known as the Huajuapan prickly pear or the Chumbera, is a species of prickly pear cactus in the family Cactaceae. It was...
Global Information
