Opuntia stricta - Erect Prickly Pear

Erect Prickly Pear is a fleshy shrub, growing under desert and dry conditions; the stem and branches, which are green, and become flattened and look very much like leaves, are called phylloclades. The plant is 1-1.8 m tall, internodes 15 cm long. Thorns, called areoles, are prickly, the largest one is very stout, sharp and about 2 cm in length; there are about 35 areoles per internode. Flowers are yellow, 5-6 cm in across, epicalyx with 4 sepals, green, 1.7 cm long, 1.8 cm broad. Flowers have 12 petals, regular, superior. There are around 15 flowers on the topmost internode. each flower arising from the axil of a scale leaf which falls off earlier, leaving behind a scar at the base. Fruits are fleshy, almost berry-like, pyriform, depressed at the tip, 6.1 cm long, 3.1 cm in diameter. Erect Prickly Pear is native to the American continent, and now a problematic weed in the Tropical World.