Prickly Pear Cactaceae The Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. (1768), cultivated since remote times now naturalized all over

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Prickly Pear Cactaceae The Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. (1768), cultivated since remote times and now naturalized in many tropical, subtropical and warm-temperate regions, is thought to be native to Mexico. The name of the genus comes from the Greek “Opus”, capital of the Locris, later called Opuntia after the name of the city, name utilized by Pliny for indicating a thorny plant, not identified, native to that region; the name of the species is the union of the Latin words “ficus”, with reference to the shape of the fruit which reminds the common fig ( Ficus carica ), and “indicus” = of India, with reference to its provenience (Western Indies). “spineless cactus”, “tuberous prickly-pear”, “tuna cactus” (English); “chardon ... India”, “higuera”, “higuera chumba”, “higuera de pala”, “nopal”, “nopal de Castilla”, ... the earth, in particular in the Mediterranean area, Australia and South Africa

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Size: 2848px × 4288px
Location: Luther Burbank Center Santa Rosa California USA
Photo credit: © Roland Pargeter / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: cactaceae, capital, cultivated, ficus-indica, genus, greek, locris, mexico., native, naturalized, opuntia, pear, prickly, regions, remote, subtropical, thought, times, tropical, warm-temperate, “opus”