Herb: Tree Chola


Latin name: Opuntia imbricata


Family: Cactaceae (Cactus Family)



Edible parts of Tree Chola:

Pads - cooked or raw. Watery and very mucilaginous. The prickles on the skin must be carefully removed before eating the pads. The young pads can be split lengthways then dried and stored for winter use. Fruit - raw, cooked or dried for later use. Sweet and gelatinous. Lean and insipid. The unripe fruits can be added to soups etc, imparting an okra-like mucilaginous quality. The fruit can hang on the plant all year round. Be careful of the plants irritant hairs, see the notes above on toxicity. The fruits of O. imbricata are dry, about 3cm in diameter and usually free of spines. Seed - briefly roasted then ground into a powder. It is also used as a thickener.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Evergreen
Perennial

Height:
3 m
(9 3/4 foot)

Habitat of the herb:

Sandy to gravelly soils.

Other uses of Tree Chola:

The fruit is chopped into small pieces, boiled and then the fibre and seed is filtered out. The resulting liquid is used as a mordant for dyes. The thorns have been used as a sewing material and for tattooing. The dried stems have been used as candles and torches. The following notes are for O. ficus indica. They almost certainly also apply to this species. A gum is obtained from the stem. It is used as a masticatory or mixed with oil to make candles. The juice of the boiled stem segments is very sticky. It is added to plaster, whitewash etc to make it adhere better to walls.

Propagation of the herb:

Seed - sow early spring in a very well-drained compost in a greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first two winters. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Give the plants some protection from winter wet. Make sure you have some reserve plants in case those outdoors do not overwinter. Cuttings of leaf pads at any time in the growing season. Remove a pad from the plant and then leave it in a dry sunny place for a couple of days to ensure that the base is thoroughly dry and has begun to callous. Pot up into a sandy compost. Very easy, rooting quickly.

Cultivation of Tree Chola:

Sandy to gravelly soils.

Medicinal use of the herb:

None known

Known hazards of Opuntia imbricata:

The plant has numerous minutely barbed glochids (hairs) that are easily dislodged when the plant is touched and they then become stuck to the skin where they are difficult to see and remove. They can cause considerable discomfort.

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.