Latin Name:
Opuntia
Physical Description:
Cactus Pears are a large, edible cactus. The leaves resemble large, green ping pong paddles or racquetball racquets with one inch long thorns every inch or so.
Usage:
Shaving off the spines, the leaves can be eaten grilled as nopales. The fruit is orangey-pink, oblong, spiny (careful!) and sweet.
Factoids:
The name for Prickly Pear Cactus in Arabic is saber, which means "tenacity". Palestinians cultivate it demarcate the edge of fields and gardens. In Hebrew it's called tzabar, which is the origin of the Israeli slang term for a native Israeli-Jew, sabra.
Harvesting Season
From:
May
To:
June 
