Tiger Pear

Opuntia aurantiaca

Family: Cactaceae.

Form: Shrub

Origin: Native of Argentina and Uruguay.

Flowers/Seedhead: Yellow, mostly at the end of succulent segments. Flowers late spring and summer.

Description: Spiny spreading or climbing cactus to 50 (rarely to over 100) cm high. True leaves are shed early and stem segments are often incorrectly referred to as leaves. Segments are partly flattened to round, mostly to 20 cm long (but may be longer in shaded areas) and to 4 cm wide, forming irregular stems to 1.5 m long. Fruit egg-shaped with depressed top, 2.5–3.5 cm long, red to purple when ripe.

Distinguishing features: Distinguished by succulent sausage-shaped segments; depressions (areoles) on segments that contain large spines to 5 cm long in clusters of 1–7 and small bristles (glochids); flowers yellow, 2.5–5.5 cm wide, with yellow stamens and stigma.

Dispersal: Spread by segment movement via water, animals and to a lesser extent tyres. Segments root where they contact the ground. Fruit are produced but these do not contain viable seed although plants can still grow from fruit in the same way that they do from segments.