Nopal is a common name in Spanish for Opuntia cacti, as well as for its pads. The name nopal derives from the Nahuatl word nohpalli for the pads of the plant.
Aaron's beard may refer to the following plants having numerous stamens or threadlike runners:
Opuntia ficus-indica, the Indian fig opuntia, fig opuntia, or prickly pear, is a species of cactus that has long been a domesticated crop plant grown in agricultural economies throughout arid and semiarid parts of the world. O. ficus-indica is the most widespread and most commercially important cactus. It is grown primarily as a fruit crop, and also for the vegetable nopales and other uses. Cacti are good crops for dry areas because they efficiently convert water into biomass. O. ficus-indica, as the most widespread of the long-domesticated cactuses, is as economically important as maize and blue agave in Mexico. Opuntia species hybridize easily, but the wild origin of O. ficus-indica is likely to have been in central Mexico, where its closest genetic relatives are found.
Grusonia is a genus of opuntioid cacti, originating from the North American Deserts in Southwest United States and northern Mexico, including Baja California. Authors differ on precise boundaries of the genus, which has been included in Cylindropuntia. Corynopuntia, also known as club chollas, is now a synonym, with the genus originally being described by Knuth in 1935. Molecular phylogenetic studies suggest that it should be included in Grusonia, a view accepted by Plants of the World Online as of June 2021.
Opuntia engelmannii is a prickly pear common across the south-central and Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It goes by a variety of common names, including desert prickly pear, discus prickly pear, Engelmann's prickly pear in the US, and nopal, abrojo, joconostle, and vela de coyote in Mexico.
Opuntia stricta is a species of large cactus that is endemic to the subtropical and tropical coastal areas of the Americas, especially around the Caribbean. Common names include erect prickly pear and nopal estricto (Spanish). The first description as Cactus strictus was published in 1803 by Adrian Hardy Haworth. In 1812 he moved the species to the genus Opuntia.
Opuntia monacantha, commonly known as drooping prickly pear, cochineal prickly pear, or Barbary fig, is a species of plant in the family Cactaceae native to South America.
Opuntia humifusa, commonly known as the devil's-tongue, eastern prickly pear or Indian fig, is a cactus of the genus Opuntia present in parts of the eastern United States and northeastern Mexico.
Opuntia, commonly called the prickly pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae, many known for their flavorful fruit and showy flowers. Cacti are well-adapted to aridity; however, they are still vulnerable to alterations in precipitation and temperature driven by climate change. Prickly pear alone is more commonly used to refer exclusively to the fruit, but may also be used for the plant itself; in addition, other names given to the plant and its specific parts include tuna (fruit), sabra, sabbar, nopal from the Nahuatl word nōpalli, nostle (fruit) from the Nahuatl word nōchtli, and paddle cactus. The genus is named for the Ancient Greek city of Opus, where, according to Theophrastus, an edible plant grew and could be propagated by rooting its leaves. The most common culinary species is the "Barbary fig".
Opuntia chlorotica is a species of plant in the family Cactaceae. It is a species of prickly pear native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Its common names include pancake prickly pear, flapjack prickly pear and dollarjoint prickly pear.
Prickly pears include a number of plant species that were introduced and have become invasive in Australia.
Dactylopius is a genus of insect in the superfamily Coccoidea, the scale insects. It is the only genus in the family Dactylopiidae. These insects are known commonly as cochineals, a name that also specifically refers to the best-known species, the cochineal. The cochineal is an insect of economic and historical importance as a main source of the red dye carmine. It has reportedly been used for this purpose in the Americas since the 10th century. Genus Dactylopius is also important because several species have been used as agents of biological pest control, and because several are known as invasive species.
Opuntia guatemalensis, commonly known as the Guatemalan prickly pear, is a species of prickly pear cactus in the family Cactaceae. It was described by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose, who had written multiple journals about the family, Cactaceae throughout 1919–1923, in which the genus Opuntia was included.
Opuntia mantaroensis, the Río Mantaro prickly pear, is a species of prickly pear cactus in the family Cactaceae. It was described by Alessandro Guiggi, an Italian botanist.
Opuntia chiangiana, commonly known as Chiang's prickly pear or the Xoconostle, is a species of prickly pear cactus in the family Cactaceae. It was described by Léia Scheinvar and Gladys Manzanero in 2009. The species was named in honor of Fernando Chiang, who was a professor at the Institute of Biology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Opuntia hitchcockii, commonly known as Hitchcock's prickly pear, is a species of prickly pear cactus in the family Cactaceae. It was described by Jesús González Ortega in 1929. The species range spreads throughout parts of Sinaloa, and Nayarit, where it grows primarily in the dry shrub-land zone of Mexico.
Opuntia zacuapanensis, commonly known as the Zacuapan prickly pear, is a species of prickly pear cactus in the family Cactaceae. It was described by Alwin Berger in 1912. Its range spreads throughout parts of Veracruz, Mexico, where it grows in the seasonally dry tropical zone.
Opuntia inaequilateralis, commonly known as the inequilateral prickly pear, is a species of prickly pear cactus in the family Cactaceae. It was described by Alwin Berger in 1905. The Latin name derived from the inequilateral shaped pads of the species, which are generally oblong. Its range spreads throughout parts of arid Peru, where it grows in the dry shrub-land zone, but is also seen in desert areas.
Opuntia tehuacana, commonly known as the Tehuacán prickly pear, is a species of prickly pear cactus in the family Cactaceae. It was described by Salvador Arias Montez and Susana Gama López in 1997, who were both Mexican botanists. The species was named for the town of Tehuacán, Mexico, which is near the center of the species range.
Opuntia austrina, also known as the Florida prickly pear, is a prickly pear cactus species that is endemic to Florida in the United States.
