Opuntia Opuntia Opuntia, commonly called prickly pear, is a genus in the cactus family, "Cactaceae". Prickly pears are also known as "tuna" (fruit), "sabra", "nopal" (paddle, plural "nopales") from the Nahuatl word "nōpalli" for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word "nōchtli" for the fruit; or paddle cactus. The genus is named for the Ancient Greek city of Opus, where, according to Theophrastus, an edible plant grew and could be propagated by rooting its leaves. The most common culinary species is the Indian fig opuntia ("O. ficus-indica"). "O. ficus-indica" is a large trunk-forming segmented cactus which may grow to with
Opuntia bentonii (less inclinded to narrow at the base). "O. bentonii" plants have fewer spines than "O. lindheimeri", zero to 3 (often only 1 or 2). One important difference is that the stigmas of "O. bentonii" flowers are yellow and not green as in "O. lindheimeri." Another individual feature of "O. bentonii" is that the veins are often visible between areoles. Opuntia bentonii Opuntia bentonii was proposed by some botanists to be a synonym of "Opuntia stricta". However, "O. bentonii", which grows in Texas, is separate and distinct from "O. stricta." "O. bentonii" was clearly described by Griffiths in 1911. Along with