Herb: Twist-Spine Prickly Pear


Latin name: Opuntia macrorhiza


Family: Cactaceae (Cactus Family)



Edible parts of Twist-Spine Prickly Pear:

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 notes above. The fruits of O. macrorhiza are about 4cm in diameter and usually free of spines. The following notes are for O. compressa. They almost certainly also apply to this species. Pads - cooked or raw. Watery and very mucilaginous. Seed - briefly roasted then ground into a powder. It is also used as a thickener.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Evergreen
Perennial

Height:
12 cm
(4 3/4 inch)

Habitat of the herb:

Sandy, gravelly or rocky soil in grasslands. Plants can sometimes persist for years under invading trees.

Other uses of Twist-Spine Prickly Pear:

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 Twist-Spine Prickly Pear:

Sandy, gravelly or rocky soil in grasslands. Plants can sometimes persist for years under invading trees.

Medicinal use of the herb:

None known

Known hazards of Opuntia macrorhiza:

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.