Opuntia pailana Opuntia pailana Opuntia pailana is a species of the genus "Opuntia" in the family Cactaceae. The name "pailana" comes from the sierra de la Paila in the state of Coahuila Mexico where it was discovered. The first description was published by Wilhelm Weingart in 1929 in the book "Monatsschrift der Deutschen Kakteen-Gesellschaft". Band 1, Nummer 9, 1929, S. 167–169. As most of the species of the genus Opuntia, "Opuntia pailana" is a shruby plant with cladodes (leaves racket-shaped) up to one meter high. The cladods are in color blue-green or when getting older green-yellow, 10 to 14 centimeters long and
Opuntia ficus-indica the plants are used as fodder. In these cases, the spines need to be removed from the pads to avoid damage to the animals. Mostly, this is achieved by burning the spines off the pads. "Opuntia ficus-indica" for human and animal consumption is its water content in an arid environment, containing about 85% water as a water source for wildlife. The seeds contain 3-10% of protein and 6-13% of fatty acids, mainly linoleic acid. As the fruit contains vitamin C (containing 25–30 mg per 100g), it was once used to mitigate scurvy. "Opuntia" contains selenium. The red color of the