''Opuntia humifusa'', commonly known as the devil's-tongue, eastern prickly pear or Indian fig, is a cactus of the genus '' Opuntia'' present in parts of the

eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

and northeastern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Description

As is the case in other '' Opuntia'' species, the green stems of this low-growing

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

cactus are flattened, and are formed of segments. Barbed bristles are found around the surfaces of the segments, and longer spines are sometimes present. The flowers are yellow to gold in color, and are found along the margins of mature segments. The flowers are waxy and sometimes have red centers. They measure across. This cactus blooms in the late spring. The juicy red or purple

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s measure from . As the fruit matures, it changes color from green to red, and often remains on the cactus until the following spring. There are 6 to 33 small, flat, light-colored

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s in each fruit.

Taxonomy

Some botanists treat this cactus as a variety of '' O. compressa'': hence ''O. c.'' var. ''humifusa'', or a synonym of ''O. compressa''. Those recognizing this species treat '' O. rafinesquii'' as a junior synonym.

Distribution

This species naturally occurs along the East Coast of the United States, including on barrier islands from the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...

to coastal

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. Eastern prickly pear is found in scattered locations from

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

eastward, and is one of two cactus species native to the eastern United States, along with the related '' O. cespitosa''. Since eastern prickly pear grows in hot, sunny locations with thin soil that does not hold water, it is found in shale barrens, which are accumulations of thin, flat, eroded sedimentary rock on steep slopes with southern exposuresessentially a desert microclimatein the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

Habitat

This plant is very intolerant of shade and instead thrives in sunny, hot and dry environments with well-draining, sandy

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

. ''O. humifusa'' will grow in open areas in sandy, rocky and coastal scrub habits. It is capable of surviving cool winters unlike many cacti, although harsh winter storms are known to cause habitat loss.

Uses

The fruits are edible, but have small spiny bristles. The pulp can be scooped and the seeds strained out to make syrup or jelly. The seeds can be briefly roasted and ground into meal. Young cactus segments can be roasted to remove spines, then peeled and sliced to be eaten like string beans; alternatively, they can be deep fried. The leafy segments can be peeled and chewed for emergency hydration. ''Opuntia humifusa'' has also provided traditional medicine uses in Indian, American, Mexican, and Korean cultures. The stem produces an extract that is high in concentrations of

polyphenol Polyphenols () are a large family of naturally occurring phenols. They are abundant in plants and structurally diverse. Polyphenols include phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannic acid, and ellagitannin, some of which have been used historically as ...

s and

flavonoid Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

s. It has also been found that ''Opuntia humifusa'' has been associated with endophytic fungi.

Gallery

Eastern prickly pear fruit.jpg, Fruit in South Carolina File:OpuntiaHumifusahabitatCT.png, Growing wild in coastal habitat, Milford Connecticut Opuntia humifusa Ottawa IL.jpg, Growing wild in northern Illinois (partial shade) Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus Spines.jpg, Close-up of yellow barbed bristles and longer spines File:YoungOpuntiaHumifusaCT.png, Seedling; notice the larger spines 2017-05-29 14 25 22 Eastern Prickly Pear cactus blossoms along Ladybank Lane in the Chantilly Highlands section of Oak Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia.jpg, Flowers

References

External links

*
Flowering ''Opuntia humifusa''

Canadian government recovery strategy for Eastern Prickly Pear

''Opuntia humifusa'' images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu

Opuntia humifusa photo gallery at Opuntia Web
{{Taxonbar, from=Q134419 humifusa Cacti of the United States Edible plants Flora of Northern America Plants described in 1820