THE PRICKLY PEAR: ONE PLANT FOR MANY USES

摘要

The prickly pear, commonly named cactus pear, is a plant native to Central America and the Southern USA. It belongs to the Opuntia genus within the Cactaceae family of the Centrosperme order. Among Opuntia species (more than 200), the Opuntia ficus-indica L Mill is the most common. As all succulent plants, the cactus pear is extremely drought tolerant, it survives well and blooms under adverse climate conditions, and it is widely distributed in arid and semi a rid areas such as Mexico, all the American hemisphere, Africa, Australia, and the Mediterranean basin.