Prickly pears typically grow with flat, rounded cladodes (also called platyclades) armed with two kinds of spines; large, smooth, fixed spines and small, hairlike prickles called glochids, that easily penetrate skin and detach from the plant. Many types of prickly pears grow into dense, tangled structures.
Like all true cactus species, prickly pears are native only to the Americas, but they have been introduced to other parts of the globe.n Here in Sicily they were introduced by the spanish when the island was under spanish domain.
The fruit is ready to eat mid August…they are very sweet but their flesh is a bit seedy, basically when you eat it you crumble the fruit in the mouth and then swallow it down..very healthy.
