Prickly Pear Cactus by Diana Sainz
by Diana Raquel Sainz
Title
Prickly Pear Cactus by Diana Sainz
Artist
Diana Raquel Sainz
Medium
Photograph - Photography - Digital Photography
Description
FEATURED IMAGE: Macro Photography Group ~ FAA ~ 11/11/2013
THE BOTANICAL GARDENS - Pear Cactus
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The idea for a garden came from Mr. Wrigley's wife, Ada. In 1935, she supervised Pasadena horticulturalist Albert Conrad, who planted the original Desert Plant Collection. Catalina Island's temperate marine climate made it possible to showcase plants from every corner of the earth.
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In 1969, the Wrigley Memorial Garden Foundation expanded and revitalized the garden's 37.85 acres. Along with the new plants came a new attitude. In the same way that the Wrigley Memorial uses primarily native building materials, the Garden places a special emphasis on California island endemic plants. (Plants, which grow naturally on one or more of the California islands, but nowhere else in the world.) Many of these plants are extremely rare, and some are on the Endangered Species list.
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The Memorial Garden is particularly concerned with the six Catalina endemics - plants, which grow naturally only on Catalina Island. The Wrigley Memorial Garden Foundation maintains a special interest in the preservation of all Catalina endemics, including the rare Catalina Ironwood.
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PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS
AS FOOD
The fruit of prickly pears, commonly called cactus fruit, cactus fig, Indian[6] fig or tuna in Spanish, is edible, although it has to be peeled carefully to remove the small spines on the outer skin before consumption. If the outer layer is not properly removed, glochids can be ingested, causing discomfort of the throat, lips, and tongue, as the small spines are easily lodged in the skin. Native Americans, like the Tequesta, would roll the fruit around in a suitable medium (e.g. grit) to "sand" off the glochids. Alternatively, rotating the fruit in the flame of a campfire or torch has been used to remove the glochids. Today, parthenocarpic (seedless) cultivars are also available.
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Cactus figs are often used to make candies, jelly, or drinks such as vodka or lemonade. The prickly pear fruit is also used as the main ingredient of a popular Christmas beverage in the British Virgin Islands, called "Miss Blyden"
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The sharp needles of the prickly pear cactus, Opuntia littoralis, shimmer in the afternoon sun next to the Memorial Road at the beginning of the Garden to Sky Hike. The neon-colored fruit of the nopales cactus tastes a little bit like watermelon. The juice from the fruit is used to make jam and vinaigrettes. The Catalina Island fox loves to dine on its sweet fruit as well and apparently doesn�t mind the tiny spines. http://www.everytrail.com/guide/hermit-gulch-trail-loop
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Prickly pears typically grow with flat, rounded cladodes (also called platyclades) that are 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.
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In the 1930s, the prickly pear was considered to be the worst plant invader in South Africa, particularly in the Eastern Cape. Like all true cactus species, prickly pears are native only to the Western hemisphere; however, they have been introduced to other parts of the globe. Prickly pear species are found in abundance in Mexico, especially in the central and western regions. They are also found in the Western United States, in arid regions in the Northwest, throughout the mid and lower elevations of the Rocky Mountains such as in Colorado, where species such as Opuntia phaeacantha, Opuntia polyacantha and others become dominant, and especially in the desert Southwest. Prickly pears are also native to the dry sandhills and sand dunes of the East Coast from Florida to south of Boston (Cape Cod). Further north, Opuntia occurs in isolated areas from the Great Lakes to southern Ontario, Canada. O. humifusa is also a prominent feature of the flora at Illinois Beach State Park, in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, north of Chicago, and of Indiana Dunes State Park southeast of Chicago.
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November 10th, 2013
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