Name of this Cactus??

WILLIAM.M

WILLIAM.M

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Does anyone know the Name of this Cactus??(Photo taken in Texas)

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There are hundreds of opuntia varieties, especially in Texas. My guess opuntia engelmannii. Some people refer this prickly pear cactus.
 
I thought that looked like prickly pear when I saw it in the other pics from the hike. Some of them bore fruit.
 
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Prickly Pear is what we call them here in KS. Not only is the fruit edible, but so are the pads. Preparation is key for eating both due to the spines of course. You can find the pads cut in strips in cans or jars at the grocery store, usually in the Latino/Mexican food aisle if you want to try it that way; called "nopales". The fruit, to me, tastes a lot like watermelon crossed with strawberry. Lots of seeds, but the most devilish thing to them are the tiny hairs that you MUST get completely removed. They look like hairs, but they are really spines and can reek havoc on your insides if you ingest them. They are called glochids, and they are almost invisible and are present on the fruits and pads. I grew up with a large Latino population in SW KS and ate them frequently. Very nice food when prepared correctly.
 
That is a Prickly Pear or Indian Fig

This plant is extremely common along the Mediterranean. It grows in the wild but is also used by farmers as a wind break, to combat erosion, or define land borders.
I've never heard of humans eating the pads, at least in this area, but I know they used to feed them to pigs.


The fruit is great, but takes a lot of careful preparation. The easiest way to grab one off the pad is with a pair of improvised tongs.
There are two common ways to prepare the fruit;
One is to let it soak in water till the spines and hair fall off. Be thorough. If you miss one hair it will get stuck in the back of your throat

My preferred way is to just slice the two ends off. Then make another cut along the body, and fillet the skin away.

Around here you start to see fruit around early May/June and it ripens by the end of July to the beginning of August.

One thing to watch out for is the seeds. If you eat a lot of them your colon will get blocked. Many people have died from this.


The peeled fruit.

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the commercially prepared cactus from the common prickly pear are sold in jars & can & called nopalitos . texas ranchers facing bad drought creating low grass used to set up pickups or tractors with flame throwers using propane & or butane & burn the spines off so cows could eat the cactus. i do know javelinas eat prickly pear leaves with spines still in place.how they do this is a mystery to me but in sanderson ,tex. we regularly found many leaves with big bites out of them. in these desert areas mesquite & cedar could'nt grow . the mule deer pawed the center out of yuccas & ate the tender centers. coons & coyotes also eat the ripe pears. dennis
 
tabeeb762 said:
That is a Prickly Pear or Indian Fig

One thing to watch out for is the seeds. If you eat a lot of them your colon will get blocked. Many people have died from this.


The peeled fruit.

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Click to expand...

I just had one over the weekend(first time) and the person who gave it to me said you eat the seeds. I couldn't crack them open and only choked down a few before spitting the rest out. Glad I didn't swallow them all.
 
Prickly pear, probably the most common cactus type in New Mexico or anywhere. It's even found in Illinois.

The fruit are very sweet, although I can't seem to eat one without getting tiny hair-like needles in my lips. Cactus jelly is made from these fruit - very good. One New Mexico winery even makes prickly pear wine - tastes like strawberry soda pop, hits like a screwdriver. :D
 
Bill,
As others have said, that is a prickly pear cactus. The red to purple fruits can be eaten raw without any preparation other than pealing the skin off off the fruit. The fruit does have tiny needles (glochids) that may be hard to see, so exercise due care in handling them. The needles are small enough that if you get them in your hand, you probably won't even see all of the needles to remove them. It's not so much painful as it is irritating. In my experience, the red fruits are sweeter than the dark purple ones. Mid to late September is the best time to eat or harvest the fruits, which have all pretty much fallen off most plants by now. The fruits can be used for everything from jelly to juice.

The pads can also be eaten, but not all varieties are equally palatable. They also should not be eaten raw, but cooked to somewhat tenderize them. The plant also has been used as a medicine for a variety of ailments.

Hope this helps.
 
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