Dillen prickly pear,
Opuntia dillenii

Family: Cactaceae

What it is like

Opuntia dillenii is an evergreen Perennial growing to 1 m (3ft 3in) by 1 m (3ft 3in) at a medium rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Height (m): 1

Where it is found

A weed of semi-arid, sub-tropical, tropical and warmer temperate regions. It may inhabit open woodlands, rangelands, grasslands, pastures, creekbanks, roadsides, railways lines, coastal environs, gardens, disturbed sites and waste areas.

Origin: Mesoamerica. Native to south-eastern USA (i.e. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas), Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and parts of northern South America (i.e. Ecuador).

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Asia, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Caribbean, Central America, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Africa, Ecuador, Haiti, India, Indochina, Jamaica, Lesser Antilles, Madagascar, Malawi, Mexico, Myanmar, North America, Puerto Rico, SE Asia, South America, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, USA, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, West Indies

How it is used

Food

Rating: 3

Edible Portion: Fruit, Flowers, Pads. Fruits are insipid but very juicy, and are eaten raw or made into syrup, jam or jelly. The fruit are peeled then eaten fresh, preserved or made into wine. Young joints are cut into pieces and boiled, or dried in the sun for future use .

Stem: this often intergrades into leaves.

Medicine

Rating: 0

Other

Rating: 3

Carbon Farming Solutions - Agroforestry Services: living fence (Agroforestry is a land use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland). Intercropped with other forage species like Mesquite (Prosopis SPP). Fodder: bank, insect.

Fencing: Plants that can be used for fencing.

Fodder: Food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them) rather than forage for themselves.

Agroforestry Services: Living fence: Simply managed rows of shrubs and trees.

Fodder: Bank: Fodder banks are plantings of high-quality fodder species. Their goal is to maintain healthy productive animals. They can be utilized all year, but are designed to bridge the forage scarcity of annual dry seasons. Fodder bank plants are usually trees or shrubs, and often legumes. The relatively deep roots of these woody perennials allow them to reach soil nutrients and moisture not available to grasses and herbaceous plants.

Fodder: Insect: Plants grown for useful fodder insects.

Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.

Agroforestry Services: Living fence: Simply managed rows of shrubs and trees.

Fodder: Bank: Fodder banks are plantings of high-quality fodder species. Their goal is to maintain healthy productive animals. They can be utilized all year, but are designed to bridge the forage scarcity of annual dry seasons. Fodder bank plants are usually trees or shrubs, and often legumes. The relatively deep roots of these woody perennials allow them to reach soil nutrients and moisture not available to grasses and herbaceous plants.

Fodder: Insect: Plants grown for useful fodder insects.

Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.

Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.

Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.

How it is grown

Climate: tropical. Humidity: semi-arid. A succulent shrub, growing under desert and dry conditions. It grows in sandy, waste places. It needs full sun. It needs a temperature above 13°C. Plants are grown by chopping them into small pieces and drying before planting. Opuntia dillenii plants are relatively sensitive to frost. At an annual mean temperature of 20°C to 30°C they need at least 150 to 250 mm precipitation per annum, but accept also lower temperatures (on average 10°C to 20°C) combined with much rain (about 1000 mm per annum). Carbon Farming Solutions - Cultivation: regional crop (Describes the non-destructive management systems that are used in cultivation).

Propagating it: Seed - sow early spring in a very well-drained compost in a greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first two winters. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Give the plants some protection from winter wet. Make sure you have some reserve plants in case those outdoors do not overwinter. Cuttings of leaf pads at any time in the growing season. Remove a pad from the plant and then leave it in a dry sunny place for a couple of days to ensure that the base is thoroughly dry and has begun to callous. Pot up into a sandy compost. Very easy, rooting quickly.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Perennial

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Medium

Soil: Light (sandy), medium

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Dry, moist

Things to keep in mind

Species in this genus generally have numerous minutely barbed glochids (hairs) that are easily dislodged when the plant is touched and they then become stuck to the skin where they are difficult to see and remove. They can cause considerable discomfort.

Constitutes a serious threat to native species, habitats or ecosystems in dry and warm climates around the world. It is involved in dangerous infestations with several Opuntia species, notably Opuntia stricta (pest pear) in eastern Australia.

Its other names

Local names

Chapal, Chhittarthohar, Chorhatalo, Dildo, Eltham indian fig, Hathhathoria, Kalazaung-letwa, Kalazaw, Kyasha, Nagadari, Nagajemudu, Nagathali, Nagophenia, Nagphana, Ni ci ba ga, Pak'an, Palakakkalli, Papaskalli, Prickly Pear, Sappathikalli, Shazaung-letwa, Slipper thorn, Sweet prickly pear, Vot gai. Australian pest pear, common prickly pear, Dillen's prickly pear, Eltham Indian fig, erect prickly pear, Gayndah pear, pipestem prickly pear, prickly pear, sour prickly pear, spiny pest pear, spiny pest-pear, sweet prickly pear, sweet prickly-pear.

Synonyms

Cactus chinensis Roxb. Cactus dillenii Ker Gawl. Cactus indicus Roxb. Opuntia melanosperma Svenson. Opuntia stricta var. dillenii (Ker Gawl.) L.D.Benson