Opuntia Blog

Stuart in the snow

I live in Maryland and, since leaving Texas, I haven’t had an outside garden. So, I grow cacti on my patio, or in the house under lights (in winter). Next year I hope to have a few more plants in pots that I can leave out for the winter (or most of the winter). 

We’ve had a lot of snow recently in Maryland, and it’s just as well I don’t have many plants outdoors because I wouldn’t be able to find them. There was about 2 foot of snow before Christmas, and recently another 30 inches. More snow is forecast for tonight.

I don’t have a photograph of cacti in the snow, but I do have a photo of my dog in the snow. He was happy to get into the house after the picture was taken. You can find actual pictures of cacti with snow here, and here.

This coachwhip snake was photographed in the Big Bend region of Texas.

Coachwhip snake

Tortoise, Texas (Gopherus species)

Cacti grow in many places, but often the surrounding country is beautiful and desolate. If you follow the link here, you can see some great images from the American Southwest. All the images feature cacti, or were taken near cacti.

Petunia in her sundress

Petunia is a little Chihuahua, just about three pounds. She loves to sun herself underneath a big Opuntia that grows in my old yard. When I get home from work she throws herself into a happy fit and runs around to the front of the house to see me, but if the afternoon sun is still shining she’s soon back by her Opuntia.

Peacock in a cactus

I don’t recognize the cactus, but I do recognize the peacock. There was little information with the photo (click here for original), but I think the photo was taken in the Netherlands Antilles (Dutch Antilles/West Indies).

I’d be guessing, but I suppose the cactus is an introduced species (as is the peacock). You can learn more about peacocks here, and here. You can learn more about columnar cacti here.

I found this image at Webshots. You can click on the image to get the original photo, even a very large version. It was entitled, “Claudius eating Opuntia fruit.”

Lesser Long-Nosed Bat

Everyone knows that bats eat insects, right? Well, yes and no. Some bats eat insects, other bats feed on the nectar from cactus flowers. Nectar feeding bats are most famous for feeding on the saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) in Mexico and Arizona.

The saguaro cactus bloom is held out at just the right angle for a hovering bat to access. The flowers are just the right size for a bat to put his face in. In fact, the bat tongue is just long enough to be able to access the nectar in a saguaro flower. As they move from flower to flower the bats pollinate the saguaro flowers.

There are two species of bats that feed on saguaro at the Saguaro National Park in Arizona: the Mexican-long tongued bat (Choeronycteris mexicana) and the lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae).

The saguaro cactus is surprisingly hardy, to about 15 F. However, if you grow it you may have to wait a long time for a plant to grow to blooming size! For more information about the bats, click here.

Saguaro Cactus

Chip the goat

This is a blog about plants, and not a blog about goats. But, when I read the story about Chip (a Tennessee fainting goat), I knew I had to give him some time on the blog.

Chip was born from a frozen embryo emplanted into the uterus of a surrogate mother goat. He’s the unofficial mascot of the SVF Foundation, a foundation devoted to the preservation of rare animal breeds.

Red fox

English red foxes were apparently introduced into Australia in 1855, to be hunted. Apparently, like certain Opuntia species, the foxes became pests. The really interesting thing is that foxes are reported to sometimes eat Opuntia fruit and thereby spread Opuntia seeds–helping the cacti spread in Australia. Today, the Opuntia problem seems to have tapered off in Australia, but I wonder if foxes aren’t still a problem. It is very difficult to figure out some ecological questions.

The government of South Australia has published a brochure called “Prickly Pear Pest.” This panicky brochure (click here to read it) mentions the fox and Opuntia connection.

“[Opuntia] Infestations can easily expand and spread when segments break off and come in contact with soil or when the fruit is consumed and spread by birds and foxes.”

Opuntia in Madagascar, man holding fruit

The Web has much information, about many topics. One paper of interest is “Introduced Opuntia spp. in Southern Madagasgar: Problems and Opportunities.” The document if full of interesting facts, but the description of a famine caused by the collapse of Opuntia in the 1920s and 1930s is astonishing.

Opuntia species were introduced into Madagascar before the 19th Century. The earliest introduced species may have been O. monacantha or O. ficus-indica when French forces used the plants to create a living fence. Within a hundred years villages has adopted the use of cacti and the plants were widespread in southern Madagascar. It is presumed that wild animals and livestock (eating fruits) assisted in the spread of seeds. Eventually, infestations became a problem and some cultivated fields were abandoned because of Opuntia infestations.

Despite problems, the Opuntia were used in livestock production, sometimes helping by providing food in drought seasons. In 1923 the cochineal insect was introduced and Opuntia rapidly died off; this caused a huge problem as Opuntia-dependent livestock suffered from starvation. Loss of livestock resulted in a famine and tens of thousands of people died. Eventually, Opuntia were introduced that were resistant to the cochineal insect and Opuntia recovered as an important factor in the economy of southern Madagascar.

Opuntia monacantha, image from Wikimedia

Baboon feeding on Opuntia fruit, click image to access original Web page, photo by Dr. Shirley Strum

Opuntia stricta-like and Opuntia-dillenii-like plants have spread to Africa, Australia, and other parts of the globe. Many of them have become naturalized. The phenomenon is not an ancient fact; it is still happening. Each year new lands are colonized by Opuntia species of different types.

Dr. Strum (a professor at the University of California, San Diego) has been studying baboons in Kenya for some time. She reports that one Opuntia species has invaded one or two of her studies areas in the past years–she’s observed baboons eating the fruit (and elephants eating the fruit  too). Dr. Strum has studied how the Opuntia has spread, how animals interact with it. She reports that the plant has fruit much of the year, unlike other invasive Opuntia that seasonally bear fruit.

Her studies show us that desertification is a real problem around the world, and an ongoing problem. But, all is not bad. She reports that when the Opuntia invaded an area the people were able to make a juice that is served to tourists.

“When an invasive species of Opuntia cactus became a serious problem in the region (see History) UNBP helped the Twala women’s group develop a cocktail syrup from the fruit of the cactus, to market to tourists”

LINK:  Dr. Shirley Strum’s Web site (Uaso Ngiro Baboon Project in Kenya)

Opuntia that has invaded Dr. Strum's research areas, photo by Dr. Shirley Strum

“In Europe, many agricultural areas are now abandoned and hence can be invaded by exotic species. The abundance and spatial distribution patterns of two Opuntia species were studied in old olive groves in the Parc Natural del Cap de Creus, Catalonia (Spain)…. However, although most seedlings were recruited beneath Opuntia [adults], some (10–30%) were found away from putative parental plants. This may be due to seed dispersal by birds and wild boars.”

It is interesting to think of native American species of plants assisting animals on other continents by providing them with fruit and seeds to eat. Its long been known that birds enjoy Opuntia fruits, and cattle will feed on Opuntia cladodes, but I never thought about pigs feeding on Opuntia and serving to move the seeds about.