Opuntia: Difference between revisions

|subdivision = Many, see [[#Species|seeList of Opuntia textspecies]].

'''''Opuntia''''', commonly called the '''prickly pear cactus''', is a [[genus]] of [[flowering plant]]s in the [[cactus]] [[family (biology)|family]] Cactaceae, many known for their flavorful fruit and showy flowers.<ref name="cabi">{{cite web|title=''Opuntia ficus-indica'' (prickly pear)|url=https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/37714|publisher=CABI|access-date=23 May 2018|date=3 January 2018}}</ref> Cacti are well-adapted to aridity; however, they are still vulnerable to alterations in precipitation and temperature driven by climate change.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Albuquerque |first1=Fabio |last2=Benito |first2=Blas |last3=Rodriguez |first3=Miguel Ángel Macias |last4=Gray |first4=Caitlin |date=2018-09-19 |title=Potential changes in the distribution of ''Carnegiea gigantea'' under future scenarios |journal=PeerJ |language=en |volume=6 |pages=e5623 |doi=10.7717/peerj.5623 |doi-access=free |issn=2167-8359 |pmc=6151114 |pmid=30258720}}</ref> '''Prickly pear''' alone is more commonly used to refer exclusively to the fruit, but may also be used for the plant itself; in addition, other names given to the plant and its specific parts include ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', ''sabbar'', ''[[nopal]]'' (pads, plural ''nopales'') from the [[Nahuatl]] word {{lang|nah|nōpalli}}, nostle (fruit) from the Nahuatl word {{lang|nah|nōchtli}}, and paddle cactus. The genus is named for the [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] city of [[Opus, Greece|Opus]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kaN-hLL-3qEC |first=Umberto |last=Quattrocchi |title=CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names |volume=III M-Q |year=2000 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-8493-2677-6 |page=1885}}</ref> where, according to [[Theophrastus]], an edible plant grew and could be propagated by rooting its leaves.{{failed verification|date=September 2023}} The most common [[culinary art|culinary species]] is the [[Indian "Barbary fig opuntia]]" (''O.&nbsp;[[Opuntia ficus-indica]]'').

Like most true cactus species, prickly pears are native only to the [[Americas]]. Through human action, they have since been introduced to many other areas of the world.<ref name="cabi" /><ref name="Majure 847–864">{{Cite journal |last1=Majure |first1=Lucas C. |last2=Puente |first2=Raul |last3=Griffith |first3=M. Patrick |last4=Judd |first4=Walter S. |last5=Soltis |first5=Pamela S. |last6=Soltis |first6=Douglas E. |date=2012-05-01 |title=Phylogeny of ''Opuntia'' s.s. (Cactaceae): Clade delineation, geographic origins, and reticulate evolution |journal=[[American Journal of Botany]] |language=en |volume=99 |issue=5 |pages=847–864 |doi=10.3732/ajb.1100375 |issn=0002-9122 |pmid=22539520}}</ref> Prickly pear species are found in abundance in [[Mexico]], especially in the central and western regions, and in the [[Caribbean]] islands ([[West Indies]]). In the [[United States]], prickly pears are native to many areas of the arid, semi-arid, and drought-prone [[Western United States|Western]] and [[South Central United States|South Central]] United States, including the lower elevations of the [[Rocky Mountains]] and southern [[Great Plains]], where species such as ''[[Opuntia phaeacantha|O.&nbsp;phaeacantha]]'' and ''[[Opuntia polyacantha|O.&nbsp;polyacantha]]'' have become dominant, and to the desert Southwest, where several types are endemic. Prickly pear cactus is also native to sandy coastal beach scrub environments of the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] from [[Florida]] to southern [[Connecticut]], where ''[[Opuntia humifusa|O.&nbsp;humifusa]]'', ''[[Opuntia stricta|O.&nbsp;stricta]]'', and ''[[Opuntia pusilla|O.&nbsp;pusilla]]'', are found from the East Coast south into the [[Caribbean]] and the [[Bahamas]]. Additionally, the eastern prickly pear is native to the midwestern "sand prairies" near major river systems, such as the Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio rivers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/education/Pages/CDHabitatSandPrairie.aspx |title=Sand prairie|publisher=[[Illinois Department of Natural Resources]]|date=2020|access-date=23 January 2020}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The plant also occurs naturally in hilly areas of southern [[Illinois]], and sandy or rocky areas of northern Illinois.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/prickly_pearx.htm|title= Eastern prickly pear, ''Opuntia humifusa'', Cactus family (Cactaceae)|website=Illinois Wildflowers|access-date=23 January 2020}}</ref>

[[Charles Darwin]] was the first to note that the cacti have [[thigmotaxis|thigmotactic]] [[anther]]s. When the anthers are touched, they curl over, depositing their [[pollen]] on the [[pollinator]]. That movement can be seen by gently poking the anthers of an open ''Opuntia'' [[flower]]. The same trait has [[convergent evolution|evolved convergently]] in other speciesgenera (e.g. ''[[Lophophora]]'').

In 1919, the [[Government of Australia|Australian federal government]] established the Commonwealth Prickly Pear Board to coordinate efforts with state governments to eradicate the weed. Early attempts, comprising mechanical removal and poisonous chemicals failed. As a last resort, biological control was attempted.<ref name="patt" /> In 1925, the ''[[Cactoblastis cactorum]]'' [[moth]] was introduced from [[South America]], and its larvae rapidly began to control the infestation. [[Alan Parkhurst Dodd|Alan Dodd]], the son of the noted entomologist [[Frederick Parkhurst Dodd]], was a leading official in combating the prickly pear menace. A memorial hall in [[Boonarga, Queensland]], commemorates the efforts of the moth.<ref name="patt" /> The release of cochineal insects, thatwhich eat the cactus and simultaneously kill the plant, has also proven an effective measure for combating its spread.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Alexander |first=W. B. |title=Control of Prickly Pear by the Cochineal Insect |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |year=1931 |language=en |volume=128 |issue=3223 |pages=226 |doi=10.1038/128226c0 |bibcode=1931Natur.128..226A |s2cid=4065020 |issn=1476-4687 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

''Opuntia'' species are primarily pollinated by [[bee]]s, including some bee genera (''[[Diadasia]]'' and ''[[Lithurgus]]'') that contain specialist pollinators ([[Oligolecty|oligoleges]]) that exclusively visit ''Opuntia''.<ref name="Review">J.A. Reyes-Agüero, J.R. Aguirre R., A. Valiente-Banuet (2006) Reproductive biology of ''Opuntia'': A review. ''Journal of Arid Environments'' 64(4):549-585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2005.06.018</ref> Only a few ''Opuntia'' species, such as ''[[Opuntia cochenillifera|O. cochenillifera]]'' and ''[[Opuntia stenopetala|O. stenopetala]]'', are pollinated by [[hummingbird]]s.<ref name="Review"/><ref>[{{Cite web|url=https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/main.php?pg=show-taxon.php&taxonid=20359|title=Opuntia Floracochenillifera ofdetail the- Southeastern United States]FSUS|website=Fsus.ncbg.unc.edu|access-date=2024-05-15}}</ref>

The thick skin of nopal cactus can be harvested as an environmentally-friendly leather replacement.<ref>{{cite web | author1 = Derya Ozdemir | title = Creating Leather From Cactus to Save Animals and the Environment | url = https://interestingengineering.com/creating-leather-from-cactus-to-save-animals-and-the-environment | url-status = live | archive-date = 29 September 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220929010119/https://interestingengineering.com/science/creating-leather-from-cactus-to-save-animals-and-the-environment | publisher = [[Interesting Engineering]] | access-date = 23 June 2020 | date = June 23, 2020}}</ref>

The prickly pear is the official plant of Texas by legislation from 1995.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Texas State Symbols |url=https://www.tsl.texas.gov/ref/abouttx/symbols|website=Tsl.texas|access-date=2024-05-15}}</ref>

The cactus fig is called '''''tzabar''''' in [[Hebrew]] ({{lang-langx|he|צבר}}). This cactus is also the origin of the term ''[[Sabra (person)|sabra]]'' used to describe any [[Israeli Jews|Jew born in Israel]]. The allusion is to a thorny, spiky skin on the outside, but a soft, sweet interior, suggesting, though the [[Israel]]i sabras are rough on the outside, they are sweet and sensitive once one gets to know them.<ref>{{cite book |last=Almog |first=Oz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JJnFSDne_5EC |title=The Sabra: The Creation of the New Jew |publisher=University of California Press |others=Translated by Haim Watzman |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-520-21642-6 |access-date=2018-04-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=Nov 16, 2006 |title=Over here and over there |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |url=http://www.economist.com/daily/diary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8160028 |access-date=2007-10-16}}</ref> This term is derived from an Arabic word for this cactus صبار ''ṣubbār'', where the related term ''sabr'' also translates to "patience" or "tenacity".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tamir |first=Tally |year=1999 |title=The Shadow of Foreignness: On the Paintings of Asim Abu-Shakra |url=http://www.pij.org/details.php?id=962 |journal=Palestine-Israel Journal |volume=6 |issue=1}}</ref>

The prickly pear is also considered a [[List of national symbols of Palestine|national symbol of Palestine]], having been grown across [[Palestine (region)|historic Palestine]] for years, traditionally being used to mark out land boundaries. The plant is seen by Palestinians as representing qualities of resilience and patience, as represented by the Palestinian proverb ''saber as-sabbar'' ("the patience of the cactus"). Its use as aan emblem of Palestine has been traced to a painting produced by the artist [[Zulfa al-Sa'di]] in the 1930s. Its visibility was renewed by historical research carried out in the 1980s and 1990s on the [[Nakba]], which revealed that many [[List of towns and villages depopulated during the 1947–1949 Palestine war|destroyed Palestinian villages]] susbequentlysubsequently saw regrowth of the cacti.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abufarha |first1=Nasser |author-link1=Nasser Abufarha |year=2008 |title=Land of symbols: cactus, poppies, orange and olive trees in Palestine |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10702890802073274 |journal=Identities |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=343–368 |doi=10.1080/10702890802073274 |issn=1547-3384|access-date=6 January 2024}}</ref> The plant's ability to thrive anywhere is also considered to reflect the experiences of the [[Palestinian diaspora]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/palestine-plants-symbolic-meanings |title=Olive tree, za'atar, cactus: Palestine's symbolic plants and the meanings behind them |last=Khalil |first=Shahd Haj |date=8 September 2022 |website=[[Middle East Eye]] |access-date=6 January 2024}}</ref>

* [[Sabra (comics)Pitaya]]

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