X-Nico

unusual facts about prickly pear


Prickly pear

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


Caloosahatchee culture

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

Chihuahuan pocket mouse

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

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.

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.

Haim Aharon Valero

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

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.

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.

Oliva

The primary sector, makes up less than 5% of economy, with extended plantations of Oranges and Tangerines, and minor plantations of Avocado, Loquat, Fig, Banana, Prickly Pear, etc.

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.

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.

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.

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.


see also

Aaron's beard

Opuntia leucotricha (Arborescent Prickly Pear, Aaron's Beard Cactus)

Acklins ground iguana

Like all Cyclura species the Acklins ground iguana is primarily herbivorous, 95% of which from consuming leaves, flowers and fruits from 7 different plant species such as seaside rock shrub (Rachicallis americana), and erect prickly pear (Opuntia stricta).

Cyclura rileyi cristata

Like all Cyclura species the White Cay iguana is primarily herbivorous, 95% of which from consuming leaves, flowers and fruits from 7 different plant species such as Seaside Rock Shrub (Rachicallis americana), and Erect Prickly Pear (Opuntia stricta).

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.

Green Mountain

Coevolutionary relationships have also been directly exploited, for example for the control of the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia vulgaris) through the use of the cactus moth (Cactoblastis sp.).

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.

O. fragilis

Opuntia fragilis, the brittle prickly pear or little prickly pear, a cactus species native to much of North America

Prickly pears in Australia

The moth Cactoblastis cactorum from South America, whose larvae eat prickly pear, was introduced in 1925 and almost wiped out the population.

Tenoch

The Nahuatl symbols of his name are found in the Mexican flag: Tetl, the rock, and Nochtli, the prickly pear cactus.

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).

White-toothed woodrat

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

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.