Durango Prickly Pear

Description:

The Opuntioid are distinguished from other cacti by four characteristics. First, the stems grow in distinctly jointed segments. The elongation of joints is permanently terminated by the onset of the dry season; subsequent growth of the plant occurs by the initiation of new joints by branching from the areoles. (Other cacti have indeterminate growth. A saguaro stem, for example, grows ever longer each growing season until the plant dies or the stem tip is damaged.) Second, whether or not they have regular spines, Opuntioid areoles bear glochids (usually small to minute, barbed spines that are very sharp and brittle, and very easily detached). Third, rudimentary leaves are present on new joints. Fourth, the seeds have a pale covering called an aril; most other cacti have shiny black seeds. The largest genus, Opuntia, has at least 300 species of shrubby or arborescent plants worldwide. The vernacular names are based on growth form.

Habitat:

Desert Southwest of the U.S.

Notes:

Opuntias are extensively used for food and other purposes by humans. The fleshy fruit (called tuna in Spanish) of some species (O. engelmannii in Arizona Upland) is edible and tasty. It can be eaten fresh, if care is taken to avoid the glochids on the rind. More often the brilliant red-purple and distinctly-flavored juice is expressed to make drinks, syrup, and jelly. Some prickly pear species are commercially cultivated for fruit production; numerous superior cultivated varieties have been selected.