Opuntia ficus-indica
Common names
prickly-pear
Biostatus
Exotic
Conservation status
Not applicable
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
Yellow
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. monacantha 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.
Habitat
Beaches and Coastal places
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Ecology
Year naturalised
2000
Origin
Mexico
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Tolerances
Salt and sandy soils
Life cycle and dispersal
Long-lived perennial shrub. Reproduces vegetatively and seed. Seeds are dispersed by people, birds and gravity.