Common Name

A Prickly-pear

Family

Cactaceae

Notes

Introduced shrub to 2m tall. Succulent branches. Sometimes spines on the branches, the bases of the flowers, and the fruit. Leafless. Flowers orange, with many 'petals', borne singly on the edges of the segments. Ripe fruit red-purple. A weed of national significance. Noxious weed in all of NSW. Declared plant in SA.

PlantNET description with line drawings and photos:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Opuntia~elata

Photo of dried stem segments. © copyright of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Plants from Uruguay, collected by JA Shafer