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August 10, 2006 : Opuntia ficus-indica
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Keywords: Cactaceae | Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) P. Mill. | Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, California
Like yesterday's Actinidia deliciosa photograph, today's picture features an important food crop. Opuntia ficus-indica, commonly known as Barbary fig, prickly pear or Indian fig, is grown throughout arid and semi-arid regions of the world as both a sweet fruit crop (tuna) and a vegetable crop. Like Oryza sativa (rice), Opuntia ficus-indica is a cultigen.
The USDA PLANTS database has a number of images of prickly pear, if you'd like to see a specimen image of the plant. I chose to focus on the spines in this photograph taken in Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in March.
For a fascinating read, learn about cochineal, a crimson dye extracted from Dactylopius coccus, an insect feeder on Opuntia species.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at August 10, 2006 12:00 AM
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Comments
Posted by: deb lievens at August 10, 2006 6:02 AM
I'll try to remember to post a close-up of those lichens later tonight.
I don't think this particular plant was happy in its location – it looked “tired”. It's pretty easy to spot in SBBG though - as soon as you enter the gardens at the main gate, it is pretty much directly in front of you (but up the hill) in the Desert Section.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin 
at August 10, 2006 8:48 AM
Yes, I remember this plant. It did look a bit tired when I was there in March. It was gray and somewhat wilted, but bearing a lot of fruit.
Posted by: van in nyc at August 10, 2006 9:31 PM
Here's a close-up of the lichens:
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin at August 10, 2006 10:57 PM
the poor prickly pear says ..."hang loose mother goose....there is a fungus among us "
extremely healthy pp's in new mexico....
to wet in b.c.
Posted by: phillip lacock at August 11, 2006 7:12 PM
Wow, I had no idea you could even grow those in BC. Here in Tucson, they can grow as big as trees (well, not YOUR kind of trees, but pretty big), with a woody trunk.
They are beautiful when healthy and I wish you had posted a pic of a healthy one. I had no idea that this particular species was the preferred for nopales. I use the tunas from opuntia engelman to make prickly pear jelly. Those are the common ones around here. Where is this Indian fig species native to? I've only seen it cultivated here (I'm growing some myself).
Posted by: Roberta at August 12, 2006 3:01 PM
Hi Roberta,
This is from the Santa Barbara BG in California. From what I've read, this cultigen was thought to have been bred in Mexico, though that isn't a certainty.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin at August 14, 2006 4:14 AM
I wonder if anyone can help us find an authentic/voucher specimen of Opuntia ficus-indica. We are an independent contract laboratory that need this specimen to identify this species for a client. Does UBC have a live specimen that we could get ~ 100gms to 1 kilo of, that has a voucher of in their herbarium?
Is there anyone I should speak to about this in particular?
Thanks in advance,
Sidney
Posted by: Sidney Sudberg at September 22, 2007 3:02 PM
Hello Sidney,
No, sorry, it isn't growing in the garden. I'm also fairly certain it isn't in the herbarium, as I've recently looked at some of the BC Opuntia species, and didn't note anything like this in the cabinet.
Your best bet is to contact some of the Californian herbaria / botanical gardens.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin at September 26, 2007 3:25 PM
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Botany Photo of the Day is a project of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, located in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. UBC BGCPR is a department of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems within The University of British Columbia.
Your picture is very cool, but no mention of what immediately caught my eye: the lichens growing on the spine sites. A lovely orange Xanthoria, I think, plus, but I can't get enought resolution to go any further. There's got to be a story there.