Opuntia ficus-indica
Common name
prickly-pear
Family
Cactaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Beaches and Coastal places
Detailed description
Large cactus to about 5 m high, often with thick cylindric trunk, and drooping habit on larger plants. Each stem segment grows to about 30 cm long, is flattened, egg-shaped and attached at the pointy end. One to six spines emerging from holes in the segments. Yellow flowers up to 7 cm diameter are produced on the margins of the stem segments. Fruit up to 7.5 x 3.5 cm, fleshy and can be yellow, orange or red.
Similar taxa
Can be distinguished from O. monocantha by the blue-green stems, up to 6 spines in each cluster and the completely yellow flowers. O. robusta is also similar, but has spines in clusters of 1-12, and the segments are almost completely round.
Flower colours
Yellow
Life cycle
Long-lived perennial shrub. Reproduces vegetatively and seed. Seeds are dispersed by people, birds and gravity.
Year naturalised
2000
Origin
Mexico
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Tolerances
Salt and sandy soils