Velvet prickly pear, Woollyjoint Pricklypear
Opuntia tomentosa

Family: Cactaceae

What it is like

Opuntia tomentosa is an evergreen Perennial growing to 4.5 m (14ft) by 4.5 m (14ft) 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): 4.5

Where it is found

This species is mostly found in sub-tropical, semi-arid and warmer temperate environments. It is a weed of roadsides, railways, pastures, grasslands, open woodlands, rangelands, disturbed sites and waste areas.

Origin: Mesoamerica. Native to Mexico and Guatemala.

Conservation Status: Status: Least Concern

Countries/locations it is found in

Australia, Central America, Guatemala, Mexico, North America, USA

How it is used

Food

Rating: 3

Edible Portion: Fruit. Fruits are eaten raw or made into jellies and jams that have a flavour like guava jelly. A succulent cactus chutney is made by mixing the fruit with raisins, apples, onions, lemon peel, dates, suger, vinegar, and spices . larger fruit measure about two inches long or a little more. They are juicy and fairly sweet, though less tasty than some other kinds of prickly pears.

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, tropical highlands. Humidity: arid to semi-arid. It grows in deep soils where water is available. A succulent shrub, growing under desert and dry conditions. It grows in sandy, waste places. Pads are covered with tiny hairs, so that they feel like velvet or woolly. 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: 9-12

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. This species is unique in having pads covered with tiny hairs, so that they feel like velvet.

Velvety tree pear (Opuntia tomentosa) is regarded as an environmental weed in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia.

Its other names

Local names

Velvet Tree Pear, Velvet opuntia, Nopal de san gabriel, Tree pear

Synonyms

Opuntia hernandezii A.P. de Candolle; Opuntia oblongata Wendland; Opuntia macdougaliana Rose; Opuntia icterica Griffiths; Opuntia sarca Griffiths ex Scheinvar.