Prickly pear
Family: Cactaceae
Scientific Name: Opuntia
Also known as:
- Cactus
- Chaffeyopuntia
- Ficindica
- Nopalea
- Phyllarthus
- Salmiopuntia
- Tunas
Opuntia, commonly called prickly pear or pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as tuna (fruit), sabra, nopal (paddle, plural nopales) from the Nahuatl word nōpalli for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word nōchtli for the fruit; or paddle cactus. The genus is named for the Ancient Greek city of Opus, where, according to Theophrastus, an edible plant grew and could be propagated by rooting its leaves. The most common culinary species is the Indian fig opuntia (O. ficus-indica).
