Prickly Pear fruit

Description:

Ripe prickly pear fruit which the birds had been sampling. Prickly pear cactus fruit is 2 to 4 inches long and shaped like an avocado. Its skin is coarse and thick, and ranges in color from yellow or orange to magenta or red. Tubercles with small prickly spines can be found on the prickly pear’s skin. The fruit’s flesh, which ranges in color also from yellow to dark red, is sweet and juicy with crunchy seeds throughout. It grows covered with needles like the rest of the cactus. The fruit is firm, with an inedible rind, a watery interior and large, hard black seeds. It has a mild flavor similar to watermelon. It can be eaten raw, or made into jellies and syrups.

Habitat:

Tohono Chul is a botanical garden, nature preserve and cultural museum located in Casas Adobes, a suburb of Tucson, Arizona.

Notes:

Prickly pear cactuses have been a staple food of Native Americans for many centuries. Their large, colorful blossoms appear in yellow, pink, red or purple and grow from the tip of cactus nodules, which later ripen into delicious red fruit. Many varieties of prickly pear cactus grow wild throughout the deserts of the Southwest, but some are not native. Some species of prickly pear cactus were introduced into North America from tropical America a number of centuries ago. The fruit of cultivated prickly pear cactuses is a common delicacy in Mexico and is sold in markets as "tuna." While all prickly pear cactus are of the genus Opuntia, the non-native Opuntia megacantha is one of the tastiest and most popular. Some native species, especially those with dark purple fruit, are not as flavorful.