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Family: Opuntiaceae
Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Equisetopsida > Caryophyllales > Cactaceae > Opuntia > O. stricta
Common name [English]: Prickly Pear
Vernacular name [Malayalam]: നാഗമുല്ല
Nativity: South East U.S.A. to East and South Mexico
Nativity: South East U.S.A. to East and South Mexico
Habitat: A common weed of semi-arid, subtropical, tropical and warmer temperate regions. It inhabits open woodlands, rangelands, grasslands, pastures, riparian zones (banks of water courses), roadsides, railways lines, coastal environs, gardens, disturbed sites and waste areas. The species is known to invade rocky slopes and river banks as well as degraded area in grasslands and woodlands.
Description: is a low- growing, much branched succulent shrub, 0.5-2 m tall. The flattened stem segments are relatively large and thick; their color is a dull bluish-green. The minute leaves are early deciduous and leave areoles (sort of raised spots) on the surface of the stems; the areoles are either without spines or with one or two (rarely more) large yellow spines. The showy flowers are bright yellow and the fruit is a bulb-shaped reddish-purple berry, its red pulp contains numerous yellow to pale brown seeds.
Flowering and fruiting: Throughout the year
Uses: The orange- red colored fruits are edible after the spines have been carefully removed. Often planted as a fence.
Cultivation: Cultivated , Wild
References
http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org
https://indiabiodiversity.org
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