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Opuntia humifusa Raf. Cactaceae Eastern prickly pear, Indian fig. Distribution: Eastern North America. Stearns (1801) reports 'OPUNTIA a species of cactus. The fruit is called the prickly pear. If eaten it turns the urine and milk in women's breast red'. This is likely to be Opuntia robusta. The ripe fruits are reported edible, raw, and the leaf pads also, either raw or cooked. The fine spines, glochids, cause severe skin irritation so should be wiped off or burnt off prior to cooking and eating. Moerman (1998) reports that O. hemifusa was widely used by Native American tribes for wounds, burns, snakebite, warts (fruit), and as a mordant for dyes used on leather. Widely used, with the spines removed, as a famine food, and dried for winter use. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley- Digital Images
- Online
Opuntia humifusa Raf. Cactaceae Eastern prickly pear, Indian fig. Distribution: Eastern North America. Stearns (1801) reports 'OPUNTIA a species of cactus. The fruit is called the prickly pear. If eaten it turns the urine and milk in women's breast red'. This is likely to be Opuntia robusta. The ripe fruits are reported edible, raw, and the leaf pads also, either raw or cooked. The fine spines, glochids, cause severe skin irritation so should be wiped off or burnt off prior to cooking and eating. Moerman (1998) reports that O. hemifusa was widely used by Native American tribes for wounds, burns, snakebite, warts (fruit), and as a mordant for dyes used on leather. Widely used, with the spines removed, as a famine food, and dried for winter use. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley- Pictures
- Online
Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia species): stem and flowers. Aquatint, c.1823.
Date: 4 June 1823Reference: 20400i- Books
Spanish red : an ethnogeographical study of cochineal and the Opuntia cactus / R.A. Donkin.
Donkin, R. A.Date: 1977- Pictures
- Online
A prickly pear (Opuntia species): flowering and fruiting stem. Coloured etching by J. Pass, c. 1800, after J. Ihle.
Ihle, Johann-Eberhard, 1727-1814.Date: 23 June 1800Reference: 25384i