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Opuntia cochenillifera
Also called Cochineal Cactus, Cochineal Plant
In Singapore: Cochineal Nopal Cactus, Prickly Pear (Cultivated in Singapore)
Opuntia cochenillifera is a spiny, succulent prickly pear-type cactus native to Mexico and now widely grown in dry regions. The key to growing it is full sun, excellent drainage and very little water.
Opuntia cochenillifera is a species of cactus in the subfamily Opuntioideae. It may have been endemic to Mexico, but has been widely introduced. The first description was in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus as Cactus cochenillifer. Philip Miller renamed it as Opuntia cochenillifera in 1768.
Unlike most Opuntia species, O. cochenillifera is pollinated by hummingbirds.
Chenille pricklypear · Erect pricklypear · Cactus apple · Barbary fig · Opuntia huajuapensis · Devil's-tongue · Opuntia lagunae · Coastal pricklypear · Purple pricklypear · Twistspine pricklypear · Opuntia matudae · Angel's-wings
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Opuntia cochenillifera by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
