By Bill Ward and Ann Black
Published in The Boerne Star in February 2005
If John Nance Garner had his way during the 1901 session of the Texas Legislature, the prickly pear cactus flower would be our state wildflower. Most people in the Boerne Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas are happy the bluebonnet won out, but we do think the prickly pear cactus deserves to be a Plant of the Month for Operation NICE! (Natives Instead of the Common Exotics!).
Boerne Chapter members Ann and Jimmy Black have a lot of experience growing cacti of various kinds. Ann agreed to write something on the prickly pear for this column. Following is just a part of what she wrote. We’ll have to continue Ann’s cactus stories in another column.
Ann Black: “Imagine what the first European explorers to the New World must have thought when they hit terra firma and stepped on their first cactus. In the 1500s true cacti only existed in the New World. Christopher Columbus reportedly discovered cacti in the West Indies and brought plants back to Europe.
Let me share some interesting things that I have learned about the common prickly pear. If you own land in the Texas Hill Country, you probably have some prickly pear cactus, whether you want them or not. The plants are ubiquitous. They may hide in tall grass, perch on canyon edges, languish under oak trees, and form large colonies in the most manicured pastures.
In my neighborhood the prickly pears are pretty rangy, but I have seen large beautiful mats of them where they have room to grow in rocky open areas. The most unusual prickly pear plants I have seen reside in the crooks of oak trees where birds or mammals must have dropped the seeds.
The most common species of Texas prickly pear we have is Opuntia engelmannii variety lindheimeri. You also may find it listed as Opuntia lindheimeri variety engelmannii. Two interesting varieties of O. engelmannii are variety inermis (spineless prickly pear) and variety linguiformis (cow’s tongue prickly pear). Cow’s tongue prickly pear is thought to have originated from a mutated cactus plant in southern Bexar County. The mutation was in the gene that controls pad growth. The plant simply does not know when to stop growing, and its stems elongate to form characteristic tongue shapes. Spineless prickly pear occurs naturally in the Hill Country. It is not abundant because it is unarmed and easily eaten by cattle, sheep, goats, and deer.
The pads or paddles of the prickly pear cacti are actually jointed stems. They do have tiny leaves that appear on new young pads that bud from the old pads in the spring. The green leaves fall off and are replaced by the familiar spines. All spines and flowers of the prickly pear grow out of a structure called the areole. Smaller barbed spines called glochids also grow from the areoles. Glochids, tiny leaves, and hard tiny seeds are features that distinguish Opuntia from other cacti.
The edible prickly pear cactus pads are called nopales, and tender young pads are called nopalitos. The agricultural source of nopalitos is not our Hill Country species, but its relative Opuntia ficus-indica. This one is spineless, more fleshy, and easier to cultivate. You can find nopalitos in our local grocery stores or order them online.
The other food obtained from the Texas Prickly Pear cactus is its fruit or cactus pear, also called tuna. Cactus pears also have glochids. Methods of harvesting and preparing the pears are numerous, and recipes can be found in many Texas cookbooks.
Last fall, my husband and I decided to enhance our nature experience and sample some tunas. My husband deftly cut off and peeled a prickly pear with his pocketknife. I eagerly popped a chunk of pear into my mouth and was rewarded by an explosion of flavor reminiscent of a very sweet and pungent watermelon. This was soon followed by the uncomfortable realization that he had not gotten all of the glochids off of the fruit. I’ve asked my native Texan friends how to remove glochids from one’s skin. The most common method mentioned was duct tape!
Opuntia engelmannii and its relatives are easy to grow. They can survive in the most rigorous of conditions, but usually do not tolerate poorly drained soils. This is a good time to plant the cactus, whether from potted plants or cuttings. Cow’s tongue prickly pear can be easily rooted from cuttings and will put on several pads in the first summer and probably even flower. The spineless variety is beautiful and should be set into a site that will show off the entire plant. However, deer find them to be “irresistible.”
The Boerne Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas provides free planting and care instructions for prickly pear at Boerne nurseries participating in Operation NICE!: Hill Country African Violets and Nursery, Barkley’s Nursery Center, and Maldonado Landscape and Nursery. Other nurseries participating in NICE!, through the cooperation of the Blanco County Master Gardeners, are Blanco Gardens in Blanco, The Old Lumber Yard in Johnson City, and The Planter Box in Marble Falls.
