Cactaceae

Prickly pear

Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.

Family: Cactaceae
Genus: Opuntia

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Prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) — FlowerPhoto: paulchallinor, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (22)

aeb: هندي عربي
Afrikaans: Turksvy
Arabic: تين شوكي, أكناري, البرشومي, التين الشوكي, برشوم, برشومي, تين البربر, تين الهند
ary: الهندية
arz: صبير سميك
Asturian: Chumbera
Chinese: 梨果仙人掌, 秘鲁柱, 食用仙人掌, 龙华宝剑, 仙人镜, 宝剑, 木耳掌
Croatian: Gospina pogača
English: Prickly pear, Barbary fig, Indian fig, Indian-fig, Tuna cactus
Finnish: Viikunaopuntia
French: Figuier de Barbarie
Greek: Μπαρμπαροσυκιά
Italian: Fico d'india, Ficodindia
Japanese: ウチワサボテン
Korean: 백년초
Norwegian Bokmål: Fikenkaktus
Portuguese: Figueira-da-índia, Pêncora
scn: Ficadìnnia, Ficu d'Innia
Slovenian: Smokvova opuncija
smn: Kaktusviigun
Spanish: Chumbera, Higuera de Chumbo, Higuera de Pala, Nopal, Nopal de Castilla, Penca, Tuna
zgh: ⴰⴽⵏⴰⵔⴰⵢ, ⴰⴽⵕⵎⵓⵙ, ⵜⴰⴽⵏⴰⵔⴰⵢⵜ, ⵜⴰⴽⵏⴰⵔⵉⵜ

Synonyms

Cactus compressus Salisb.
Cactus decumanus Willd.
Cactus elongatus Willd.
Cactus ficus Thunb.
Cactus ficus-indica L.
Cactus lanceolatus Haw.
Cactus maximus Colla
Cactus opuntia L.
Cactus opuntia var. ficus-indica (L.) DC.
Cactus opuntia var. latifolius Risso
Opuntia alfagayucca Karw. ex Salm-Dyck
Opuntia amyclaea Ten.
Opuntia apurimacensis (F.Ritter) R.Crook & Mottram
Opuntia arkansana Engelm. ex Hirscht
Opuntia caespitosa Raf.
Opuntia compressa J.F.Macbr.
Opuntia cordobensis Speg.
Opuntia crassa Haw.
Opuntia crassa var. major Pfeiff.
Opuntia decumana (Willd.) Haw.
Opuntia elongata (Willd.) Haw.
Opuntia elongata var. laevior Salm-Dyck
Opuntia ficus-barbarica A.Berger
Opuntia ficus-indica f. amyclaea (Ten.) Schelle
Opuntia ficus-indica f. decumana (Willd.) Schelle
Opuntia ficus-indica f. gymnocarpa (F.A.C.Weber) Schelle
Opuntia ficus-indica f. reticulata Backeb.
Opuntia ficus-indica var. amyclaea (Ten.) A.Berger
Opuntia ficus-indica var. decumana (Willd.) Speg.
Opuntia ficus-indica var. elongata Schelle
Opuntia ficus-indica var. gymnocarpa (F.A.C.Weber) Speg.
Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten Makino
Opuntia fusicaulis Griffiths
Opuntia glaberrima Pfeiff.
Opuntia glauca Pfeiff.
Opuntia gymnocarpa F.A.C.Weber
Opuntia labouretiana K.Schum.
Opuntia lanceolata (Haw.) Haw.
Opuntia leiascheinvariana Martínez-Gonz. & Gallegos
Opuntia leucostata J.Forbes

and 14 more.

Flowers

In flower: April to June, October to November (from 1,437 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)
Flower colour: red (USDA PLANTS Database)

Characteristics

Growth habit: Shrub, Tree
Lifespan: Perennial
In the US and Canada: Hawaii: introduced, Lower 48 states: introduced, Puerto Rico: introduced

Photos

FlowerPhoto: paulchallinor, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Cristhian Mace, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: William Stephens, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Whole plantPhoto: JMK, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
LeavesPhoto: takalani.nelu, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Whole plantPhoto: Rudolphous, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
FruitPhoto: Zoltán Stekkelpak, CC0, from iNaturalist
Whole plantPhoto: zebedeugalinha, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Whole plantPhoto: zebedeugalinha, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Whole plantPhoto: Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
LeavesPhoto: anneso_10, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Whole plantPhoto: Tanja Freibott, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons

More in Opuntia

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0); common names from SimplePlant editors (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.