Opuntia
- noun
- /oʊˈpʌn.ti.ə/
- Specialized
:
Opuntia
- Many people enjoy harvesting the sweet fruit of the Opuntia for their desserts.
- prickly pear
- pear cactus
- Opuntia cactus
Examples
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In the dry climate, the Opuntia thrives with minimal water compared to other plants.
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The beautiful Opuntia blooms attract many pollinators during the summer.
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A howl rose up, the groan of twisting opuntia.
Fiction book (1997) -
Cereus echinocactus, opuntia.
-
Endangered gopher tortoises burrow amid opuntia cactus, longleaf pine, yuccas, and bushes of sparkleberry.
Academic text (1990)
Synonyms
1
4.3
A cactus with flat stems covered in sharp spines and edible fruit
1
4.6
A cactus with flat spiny pads and oval fruit you can eat
A group of cactus plants like prickly pears with flat spiny pads and edible fruit
Compounds
- Specialized
A group of cactus plants like prickly pears with flat spiny pads and edible fruit
- Specialized
A prickly pear cactus with yellow flowers and purple fruits that grows in the southern United States and northern Mexico
- Specialized
A prickly pear cactus with flat spiny stems and edible fruit native to Jamaica
Surface Forms
Etymology
Opuntia comes from an old Greek place called Opus, because people long ago used that name for a plant that grew near the town. Today Opuntia is the name for the prickly pear cactus plants, so you can remember it as the cactus 'from Opus' that gives the edible prickly pear fruit.