Species
Opuntia ficus-indica
Common Name(s)
prickly-pear
Authority
Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.
Family
Cactaceae
Flora Category
Vascular - Exotic
Structural Class
Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs
Habitat
Beaches and Coastal places
Features
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
Year Naturalised
2000
Origin
Mexico
Reason for Introduction
Ornamental
Life Cycle and Dispersal
Long-lived perennial shrub. Reproduces vegetatively and seed. Seeds are dispersed by people, birds and gravity.
Tolerances
Salt and sandy soils
This page last updated on 30 Jul 2014