This specimen was spotted during the Wild Harvest Tour out in Camden NC.
Common Name: Creeping Prickly Pear
Other Common Names: ‘Lawn Peyote’ (incorrectly) but also, Devil’s Tongue, Eastern Prickly Pear cactus, Low Prickly Pear, Smooth Prickly Pear and, Spreading Prickly Pear.
Botanical Family: Cactaceae (The Cactus Family)
Botanical Latin Name: Opuntia humifusa
Description & Habitat: Eastern Prickly pear is commonly found all over the Southeastern United States. While its habitat can vary as it can be found in vacant lots, in forests, as part of intentional landscaping and just growing wild it always prefers soil that has excellent drainage. You are more likely to find this plant growing prostrate against the ground in the wild which is why its specific epithet ‘humifusa’ means prostrate or sprawling referring to its wild growth habit. The name Opuntia is a combination of the name of a Greek town called Opus where a similar plant grows and ‘punti’ which means spined. In general you can identify this plant as it will always have waxy green pads that are roughly teardrop shaped and it is covered with a variety of spines of two types, the big ones are simply called spines and the small fine ones called Glochids (Glo-kids). Prickly Pears long ago evolved to have no leaves in the normal sense as the closest thing they have are the spines and glochids and the small temporary leaf-like structures that appear on new pads. The pads themselves are just heavily modified stems that have evolved to make these plants highly resistant to arid environments.
When & What to Harvest: There are two things that you would want to harvest here, firstly are the pads which are called Nopales if fully intact, and Nopalitos after the skin and spines are removed or cooked off. The fruit of this plant are called Tuna or Nostle (from Nahuatl). Typically you would harvest the pads as needed, and the fruit is ready for harvest in mid to late summer once it is uniformly colored a rose-red.
Non-Dangerous Lookalikes: A lot of cacti have the same basic features but Prickly Pears are very specific in form and have very few other cacti that look like them.
Related Dangerous Species: None, the Prickly Pears are all relatively safe.
Recipe: Prickly Pear Jelly
Ingredients:
4 cups cactus fruit juice
½ cup lemon juice
5 cups sugar
2 packages of pectin
Directions:
1. Put the juices in a large pot and bring to a full boil.
2. Add the sugar and pectin.
3. Boil until the mixture becomes gel-like in consistency.
4. Pour the mix unto warm sterilized jars and seal them tightly.
5. Allow the jars to cool at room temperature before putting them away in your pantry.
Additional Information: (If applicable)
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/opuntia-humifusa/
With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog. In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.
For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.
Fresh Foods:
Soup Kit – Parsnip
Soup Kit – Turnip
Turnips
Parsnips
Onions
Celery
Potatoes
Garlic Bulbs
Oyster Mushrooms
Soil Amendment Products:
Carolina Gold, Live Mushroom Compost – 18 Gallon Tote*
Carolina Gold, Live Mushroom Compost – 3 Gallon Bag
Carolina Gold, Live Mushroom Compost – 1 Gallon Bag
Carolina Gold, Enhanced Potting Soil – 1 Gallon Bag
Houseplants:
Abutilon
Aloe, American
Begonia, Sindbad
Cuban Oregano, Large Leaf
Hoan Ngoc
Pothos, Cebu Blue
Rose Campion
Selaginella
Solanum uleanum
Sorrel, Raspberry Dressing
Swiss Cheese Plant
*The 18 gallon tote is by special order only and is delivered to any address within the Fayetteville city area.
How to stay in Contact with Us!
All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.
Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville
Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:
The Videos: Look Here
>Newest videos (-): [The channel is on Hiatus until 2025]
Meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is January 18th at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm.
