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Opuntia humifusa
Also called Eastern Prickly Pear, Indian Fig, Low Prickly Pear, Smooth Prickly Pear, Creeping Prickly Pear, Creeping Pear, Large Flower Prickly Pear
A low-growing cactus with flattened green pads, native to the eastern United States and parts of Canada and Mexico. It thrives in hot, sunny, well-drained spots and tolerates poor, dry soil.
Opuntia humifusa, commonly known as the devil's-tongue, eastern prickly pear or Indian fig, is a cactus of the genus Opuntia present in parts of the eastern United States, southeastern Canada, and northeastern Mexico.
This species naturally occurs along the East Coast of the United States, including on barrier islands from the Florida Keys to coastal Massachusetts. Eastern prickly pear is found in scattered locations from New Mexico and Montana eastward, and is one of two cactus species native to the eastern United States, along with the related O. cespitosa. Since eastern prickly pear grows in hot, sunny locations with thin soil that does not hold water, it is found in shale barrens, which are accumulations of thin, flat, eroded sedimentary rock on steep slopes with southern exposures – essentially a desert microclimate – in the Appalachian Mountains.
The fruits are edible, but have small spiny bristles. The pulp can be scooped and the seeds strained out to make syrup or jelly. The seeds can be briefly roasted and ground into meal. Young cactus segments can be roasted to remove spines, then peeled and sliced to be eaten like string beans; alternatively, they can be deep fried. The leafy segments can be peeled and chewed for emergency hydration.
Chenille pricklypear · Cochineal nopal cactus · Erect pricklypear · Cactus apple · Barbary fig · Opuntia huajuapensis · Opuntia lagunae · Coastal pricklypear · Purple pricklypear · Twistspine pricklypear · Opuntia matudae · Angel's-wings
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Opuntia humifusa 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.
