X-Nico

16 unusual facts about Opuntia


Chihuahuan pocket mouse

The dominant vegetation in its habitat normally consists of plants such as mesquite, creosotebush, catclaw, and prickly pears.

Common punaré

In the wild, they can obtain additional water by eating prickly pear cactuses.

Defrutum

In Sardinia, the saba from grape must, from the fruit of prickly pear or more rarely from arbutus, is used in the preparation of traditional sweets and cakes.

Dicymolomia julianalis

They have also been recorded as internal feeders in cat-tails (Typhus species) and cactus stems (Opuntia species).

Emory Peak

High-desert flora and fauna including alligator juniper (Juniperus deppeana), pinyon pine (Pinus cembroides), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), prickly pear cacti (Opuntia spp.), Mexican Jay (Aphelocoma wollweberi), sotol (Dasylirion leiophyllum), and Texas madrone (Arbutus xalapensis) may be seen along the trail.

Haim Aharon Valero

Even within the walls, a third of the city was a wasteland, covered in thickets of prickly pear cacti.

Lotus effect

Superhydrophobic and self-cleaning properties can also easily be demonstrated in many other plants, for example Tropaeolum (nasturtium), Opuntia (prickly pear), Alchemilla, cane, and on the wings of certain insects.

Margaret Flockton

Margaret Lilian Flockton (29 September 1861 Sussex - 12 August 1953 Sydney), was an Australian botanical artist, particularly noted for her illustrating of "The Forest Flora of New South Wales" (some 300 plates), "A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus" (88 plates), and the genus Opuntia, all by the botanist and forester, Joseph Henry Maiden.

Motagua Valley thornscrub

The vegetation consists mainly of thorny species such as cactus of the genus Opuntia, acacias, and thorny bushes of the Fabaceae family.

Mungindi

Though 1890 brought a devastating flood which forced many families into difficulties and may have been responsible for the widespread of Prickly Pear which caused further hardship, many new names appear in Mungindi as selectors took up small blocks offered from land resumed after changes to land tenure in 1884 and as more tradesmen and businessmen took up residence in the town.

Opuntia fragilis

Opuntia fragilis, known by the common names brittle prickly pear and little prickly pear, is a prickly pear cactus native to much of North America.

Presencia de América Latina

On the left panel of the mural there is a nopal, which merges with the vines of a copihue (the national tree and flower of Mexico and Chile, respectively).

Prickly pear

Opuntia, a genus of cacti producing a fruit known as the prickly pear

Qumya

In the late nineteenth century, the village of Qumya was described as located on a knoll in the middle of a valley, surrounded by gardens of prickly pear.

Shire of Tara

Prickly Pear infestation in the early 1900s had a devastating effect on the area that was only alleviated by the introduction of the cactoblastis moth.

White-toothed woodrat

Almost invariably, cacti, especially cholla and prickly pear (Opuntia), are present.


Alliqucha

The shore of the lake is covered with ichu (stipa ichu), qiwuña (polylepis sp), shunqu shunqu (stangea erikae), kuñaq or botoncillo (werneria dactylophylla), lliqllish qura (werneria nubigea), inka waraqu (opuntia flocossa), rima rima (krapfia weberbaueri) and tawlli machu (lupinus weberbaueri).

Caloosahatchee culture

Plants collected as food included various wild roots, mastic fruit, prickly pear cactus fruit, palm fruits, sea grapes, hogplum, and cocoplum.

Gravesend, New South Wales

In the 1930s, Gravesend was the site of a research station breeding Cactoblastis moths later released to eradicate a devastating prickly pear infestation.

Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park

The gardens feature a greenhouse and hundreds of cacti and succulents from around the world, including acacia, agave, small barrel cactus, cholla, ocotillo, prickly pear, saguaro, sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri), and yucca.

Opuntia ficus-indica

Recent DNA analysis indicated O. ficus-indica was domesticated from Opuntia species native to central Mexico.

Kishkashta, a main character on a 1970-80s Israeli children's show, "Ma Pit'om", was a large, talking felt puppet of the Opuntia cactus.

Opuntia phaeacantha

This plant, like other Opuntia species, is attacked by cactus moth.

Pack rat

Some Neotoma species, such as the white-throated woodrat (N. albigula), use the bases of prickly pear or cholla cactus as the sites for their homes, using the cactus' spines for protection from predators.

Tequesta

The Tequesta gathered many plant foods, including saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) berries, cocoplums (Chrysobalanus icaco), sea grapes (Coccoloba uvifera), prickly pear (nopal) fruits (Opuntia spp.), gopher apples (Licania micbauxii), pigeon plums (Cocoloba diversifolia), palm nuts, false mastic seeds, cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), and hog plum (Ximenia americana).

Tonto National Monument

Other common plants include: cholla, prickly pear, hedgehog, and barrel cactus (flowering from April to June); yucca, sotol, and agave; creosote bush and ocotillo; palo verde and mesquite trees; an amazing variety of colorful wild flowers in good years (February to March); and a lush riparian area which supports large Arizona Walnut, Arizona Sycamore, and hackberry trees.

Whipple Mountains Wilderness

The dominant vegetation-type is commonly referred to creosote bush scrub, with palo verde, desert Ironwood, smoketree, and numerous species of cacti including cholla, saguaro, foxtail, and prickly pear.

Zophodia analamprella

In the early summer, the larvae attack the flower buds, flowers, young fruit, and young growth of Opuntia species, while in the late summer and autumn they are predacious on cochineal mealy bugs of the Dactylopius genus, which feed on prickly pear.