As to be expected from a cultivated crop, this species is complicated. It is really more of a collection of cultivars than a distinct species. The various cultivars probably have differing admixtures of genes from O. streptacantha, O. tomentosa, O. hypiacantha, O. megacantha, and O. leucotricha.  The description above mostly characterizes the plants most often found in the United States. But they can vary—some have spines, some get much taller, others will have larger or smaller, thicker or thinner pads, probably all according to use (described below).

Plant in full sun. Low water is required but once or twice a month in summer is recommended. Maybe water one or twice in the cool season if it doesn’t rain. In containers, you will want to water it about twice a week in summer, and about once a month in winter. Hardiness varies, but plants in our region can usually tolerate temperatures down to about 20°F, though hard cold snaps dipping into the mid 20s may cause groups of pads to shed. Some clones can tolerate temperatures down to 10°F.

We recommend watering plants in the summer when there is drought to prevent rots. During droughts plants will have natural root dye-back, and this is normal. But during extended droughts like the two year drought of 2019-2020, plants had excessive root dye-back and when the rains finally came, many plants just rotted. Many people thought that the really wet summer is what rotted the cacti, but it was the response to copious moisture coming into contact with lots of dead roots, and those rots chased up into the plants.

Flowers are very important for native bee species, though numerous other pollinators use the flowers. The seeds of the dried fruits are eaten by birds and many other animals. Prickly pear plants provide important habitat for birds, native rodents like packrats, and numerous other animals. Larval host for the tineid moth Dyotopasta yumaella, the grass moth Dicymolomia opuntialis, the snout moth Laetilia dilatifasciella, and the grass moth Pseudoschinia elautalis.

This is an important arid land crop grown for its fruits, and for its edible pads (nopal). This species is also commonly used to raise cochineal insects to produce carmine red dye. Read more about Cochineal here.

The fruits have one of the highest concentrations of vitamin C of any known fruit. They are eaten raw, or made into syrups, or preserves, or juiced. Mexicans may use the fruit to make an alcoholic drink called colonche. The fruits are used also as flavoring for other things like various liqueurs, desserts, and non-alcoholic drinks.

The young pads (technically called a “cladode” or modified stem) are often cooked or pickled, often referred to as nopalitos. They can be eaten raw too.

Other uses include feeding cattle, waterproofing roofs, and biofuel production.

Opuntia is from Latin root puncti for prickled. The specific name, ficus-indica, means “Indian fig” a reference to the use of the plant’s fruit by indigenous people of the Americas. There are approximately 176 species currently accepted for the genus. Like most true cactus species, prickly pears are native only to the Americas. Through human action, they have since been introduced to many other areas of the world.

DNA analysis indicated O. ficus-indica was domesticated from Opuntia species native to central Mexico. The Codex Mendoza, and other early sources, show Opuntia cladodes, as well as cochineal dye (which must be cultivated on Opuntia), in Aztec tribute rolls. The plant spread to many parts of the Americas in pre-Columbian times. Since Columbus, it has spread to many parts of the world, especially the Mediterranean, where it has become naturalized. Prickly pears are a massive weed problem for some parts of Australia, especially southeast Queensland, some inland parts of New South Wales, Victoria, and south-eastern and eastern South Australia.